


Change of Plans

by Witch_of_History



Series: Change of Fate [1]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Literally metioned once but just to be sure, M/M, Mentions of passed sexual trauma, Most of them are over 16, Multi, Pregnancy, Teen Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:01:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 38,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22177471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Witch_of_History/pseuds/Witch_of_History
Summary: The VKs were always going to try to take over Auradon, to save themselves or the people they loved. Nothing that could happen on the Isle would change that. But what about in Auradon? What if some of the hero kids weren't so easily convinced that the High King's word was just?Well then, plans might just change.
Relationships: Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Jay/Carlos de Vil
Series: Change of Fate [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1598164
Comments: 60
Kudos: 155





	1. A Foul Introduction

Mal sighed as she started working on her new mural piece, fangs poking out slightly as she smiled at a job well done. She removed the damp cloth from her face that was her only protection from the fumes, shoving it in her back pocket like a labor worker as she took her purple hair down from it’s place atop her head. She started humming an old tune she used to know. 

_ They say I'm easy _

_ They say I'm bad _

_ They say I'm evil _

_ And that makes me glad _

Jay was out the window like flash, sliding down a metal ladder that could have been an old fire escape. It was  _ his _ escape now. He grinned as he fixed his beanie before running off towards the market place, sly fingers drumming a beat on whatever he snatched along the way. 

_ A dirty thief _

_ Down to the bone _

_ A wanted poster _

_ Can't take me home _

Evie strutted her way across the dining table for the apartments she was walking over, loving how every eye was on her as she moved and yet they couldn’t even be annoyed. She caught the eye of one of the guys her age, winking as she moved under the protective railing and jumped. 

_ So I've got some mischief _

_ In my blood _

_ Can you blame me _

_ Just wanna share my love _

Out of a spray painted bedroom came Carlos, smirking at the sun light as he moved to join his friends. He stole a barely used rag out of some guys back packet to give to Evie knowing she’d love to use it for a project. His feet danced to a silent song as he moved through the street. 

_ They think I'm callous _

_ A harmless thug _

_ I feel so useless _

_ Just need a hug _

He danced his way through the homeless sector, jumping on beds to wake everyone up. He rubbed his fists under his eyes as he caught a crying girl’s eye, appearing mocking but his actions were a warning. Wipe away your tears or you’ll choke on them. 

Evie and Mal didn’t have to worry about tears, not only because they were incapable of crying but because no one laid a hand on them unless it was wanted. 

_ Mirror, mirror on the wall _

_ Who's the baddest of them all _

_ Welcome to my wicked world, wicked world _

The boys felt better when Evie and Mal were with them, sliding over carts full of almost empty sopas and drumming on barrels where the laundresses were cleaning someone else’s clothes while theirs remained dirty. 

_ I'm rotten to the core, core _

_ Rotten to the core _

_ - _ __ _ - _ __ _ - _

_ I'm rotten to the, I'm rotten to the _

_ I'm rotten to the core _

Mal slid into the booth next to a fortune teller, smirking while the older woman rolled her eyes. They both knew there was no fortune on the isle and this was nothing but a sham. At least it paid. Mal didn’t hurt her, simply moved on to the next booth and painted an M on it, sliding back the curtain to reveal someone taking a bath. 

_ Call me underhanded _

_ Call me a sneak _

_ How can you say that _

_ It’s just technique _

Jay slid up to a table where two shopkeepers were doing business, making himself a plate as he chatted them up, his charming smile completely disarming their instincts to shoo him away. He suddenly vaulted over the table, both of their wallets and all metal objects he could reach in his pockets. 

_ What, me a viper _

_ Bit your back _

_ Are we not friends _

_ Give me some slack _

Evie loved moving through the scarf shop, all of the different textures that she could use in a million different ways. Her eyes fell on the only one not available which was sitting around the neck of the shop owner, her teeth baring in a smile as she pulled it off him. When he turned to take it back, he stopped short to stare at her. Jonas Facilier always had an eye for beautiful things and got easily distracted. 

_ So I'm eccentric _

_ So I'm a flirt _

_ I broke your heart _

_ You lost your shirt _

Carlos happily stampede through the marketplace, noticing the perfect opportunity to kick down the most hated stand in the area. No matter how much parents hated their children, no one let their own near the Muffin Man’s stand. And no matter how starving, the only kids who went near it were caught dead. He skipped away before he could be noticed, ruffling with a few others just to make it seem there was no specific target. 

_ The past is past _

_ Forgive, forget _

_ The truth is _

_ You ain't seen nothing yet _

Evie and Mal enjoyed watching the boys goof off in the old industrial parts building where materials used to be stored for new houses. Everything in it had been stripped clean down to the lonely metal crane that was too heavy to move and the worthless scraps no one wanted. 

_ Mirror, mirror on the wall _

_ Who's the baddest of them all _

_ Welcome to my wicked world, wicked world _

The Rotten Four ran through the streets, laughing as they picked up more members of their gang, even just kids who wanted protection for a few minutes from the rest of the isle. “We are Rotten!” they called just to taste the power it held. 

_ I'm rotten to the core, core _

_ Rotten to the core _

_ - _ __ _ - _ __ _ - _

_ I'm rotten to the, I'm rotten to the _

_ I'm rotten to the core _

Of course everything ended so soon as the parade was met with two of Maleficent's biggest goons, some unnamed goblin who’s underbite was almost comical and Horace, borrowed from Cruella. “Move!” Maleficent beamed as she stepped out from between the idiots, looking like she just stole candy from a baby. “Mal, I’ve got exciting news! You don’t have to go Dragon Hall anymore!” When Mal pointed to her friends in obvious question, her mother just waved her hand. “Yes, yes, them too.”

Though her friends were just glad to not be separated from her, Mal never took anything her mother gave her for granted because there was always a price. “And why aren’t we going to our school any more?”  
“You’ll be going to a different school. In Auradon!” If she wasn’t already ivory skinned, Mal would have paled as much as her friends. Auradon was full of people that hated them, which wasn’t that different from the isle except for one difference. The people who hated them in Auradon were in charge, with no way for someone like Mal to change it. “Stop arguing,” her mother tutted even though none of them had said a word, “this is good! Come, come.” Maleficent waved her hand and everyone fell in line. 

Bargain Castle, formerly a proper, beautiful castle, had fallen into a shabby, broken down form from it’s time on the isle. At the moment, it served as a shop that sold used enchanter robes and pointed hats. The top floor was where her mother lived with a small room for Mal and some spare blankets for when the other Villains crashed. “The children have arrived, and you need to set them straight. None but Mal want to go.” 

“Mother, none of us want to go. There are dogs, uniforms,  _ Princes _ and…” A growl erupted from both dragon fae, her mother knowing exactly what point she was going to bring up. “ _ Stefan _ . You really think we want to face the things we hate the most just to obey some spoiled brat who doesn’t actually have any power here?” 

Cruella cackled in what must have once been an enchanting laugh before the smoke finally overtook her lungs, hacking out the only air it had. “The spoiled brat is right, but everything else is wrong. You don’t  _ obey _ him and he does have power here. He could cut off food supplies at any time and let us destroy each other for fun, it sure would be a sight to see.” She petted that stupid stuffed puppy on her shoulder, the only way she kept herself as calm as she was. “When you go,” her eyes turning to Carlos as she grabbed his face with her nails, “you bring me all of their precious dogs and Mommy will make sure none of them hurt you or that stupid cat you think you’ve hidden from me.” 

“Who cares about those dogs? Evie will woo all of those princes into fighting over who gets her hand, all of them giving her their kingdoms right before we arrive with power over  _ everything  _ and there will be nothing they can do to stop us.” There was a hungry look in the evil queen’s eyes as she fixed her daughter’s face, only seeing a tool to gain her power. Or at least, that was the facade she put on. 

Jafar of course wanted his bit. “And if she fails, Jay will have replaced all of their magical objects with fakes so they have no protection. He’ll have every princess falling at his feet taking the kingdoms that  _ they _ control. You may forget that there are some places where a queen rules even without a king, but I have not.” His eyes turned almost completely red, turning slowly to his son who was trying to lean nonchalantly against the wall. “Save the Sultana for me, boy.” 

Maleficent moved to the small balcony in the house, leaning against the railing as if she wanted to whisper a secret in all of their ears. “I don’t care how you do it or what means you must achieve it by, but power is the only thing that matters over there. Same as here. They might think they are better than us with all of their ‘goodness’, but the same base rules apply. And one of the easiest ways to power is the Fairy Godmother’s wand. If you get that, you suddenly have everyone under your whim and you get us out of here immediately.” Her eyes turned green as she looked Mal directly in the eyes with a wicked grin. “Or, you fail to get the wand and you have to slowly gain power the hard way and spend as much time with those things you hate so much as possible. Then get us out when everything is handed to you. Either way, you will free us. When we have escaped, you will present us with what we want.” She turned to Jafar who was closest, “the Sultana and her street rat,” while a predatory look made Jay shrink back, she turned to the Evil Queen, “the prince, the huntsman and the seven dwarves who stole Snow White from you,” Evie looked at the floor knowing she would never live up to her step sister, “all of those dogs who got away and the ones they bred, Anita and Roger watching as you take every one of them,” Cruella almost looked rabid herself, Carlos trying to shrink into the background before those teeth turned on him, “and most importantly, King Stefan and Queen Leah. Mal, I don’t care if you present me with her head or her breathing body. But Stefan is mine. Make sure Aurora is safe and does not find out about their murders, she must believe someone else caused them.”   
“Yes mother.” Jealousy crept up her throat as Mal imagined all of the times that her mother protected and spoiled Aurora, made sure she had a happy and forgiving life. Mal decided in that moment that the King and Queen wouldn’t be the only ones who appeared to have been lost in the fighting. It was only a matter of who to blame. 

A limo suddenly appeared outside of the Castle, waiting for the four of them to put their things in the back and drive all the way to their new ‘home’. There were only given a few minutes to throw all of their stuff together, running to their homes and finding whatever they could and shoving it into a bag. The Junk Shop was close by, but Hell Hall and the Castle Across the Way were not. As soon as Mal and Jay had their stuff together, they raced to their friends to help them make sure all of their stuff was ready. “Where’s Belzebub?” 

“I don’t know, didn’t you leave him with Diego when your mother made you come back?” There was a mix of emotions on Carlos’ face as he realized his cat was not going to be able to go with them, there wasn’t time, but at least she would be safe. Mal hugged him tightly before they ran off to get in the limo. 

“Jackals have landed,” was whispered by the driver when they had all piled in and Mal only had a second to question what a jackal was before he turned to them with sunglasses covering his eyes. “A jackal is a slender long-legged wild dog that feeds on carrion, small game and fruits. They symbolize abandonment and Prince Ben felt it fitting for that to be your code, since all of you kids were abandoned out here.” He spoke like everything was fact instead a matter of opinion. He started the limo and drove them through the streets, pretending not to notice the stunned kids in the back. 

“Well then.” Evie was the first to gather her composure, pulling out her mirror to check her eyes while the boys took that as permission to descend on the food in front of them. Mal had never seen a Jackal, but it seemed fitting. Once Evie was sure her makeup was still perfect, she grabbed the first blue thing in sight and bit down on it. “Okay, no one touch the rest of these or you lose your fingers.” She beamed as the boys paused to find the rest of the blue ones and piled them in her lap. 

Mal rolled her eyes affectionately before staring out the window. When she turned her head, her eyes landed on the cube shaped object on the still, reaching out to press it. It didn’t do anything so she sighed and went back to looking out the window, finding her eyes widening as she realized where they were going. “Guys! The bridge isn’t there, this was a trick!” She was quickly pulled onto Evie’s lap by surprisingly strong arms, Carlos mirroring her movements as he squirmed closer to Jay who had one arm wrapped protectively around the small boy’s waist and the other around the two girls. They huddled together muttering a thank you before realizing they hadn’t died. “What?” Mal perked up first to stare in wonder at the golden bridge all around them.

Evie gently moved Mal off her lap so she could get a better look out the back window, her eyes flashing golden in the light as she turned to look at her friends. “It must be magic!” Mal froze as she looked at Jay who’s own eyes looked similar to his father’s that morning, but less of a hungry forest fire devouring everything in its path and more of a protective hearth. She knew by everyone else’s looks, her own eyes were bright green. 

While his friends tried to get their newfound magic under control, Carlos snatched Mal’s clicker and held it up for the driver. “Did this make the bridge?” His eyes were wide and curious, ready to learn. Mal held back a warning growl. 

“No, that opens my garage. This,” the driver held up a small clicker just out of reach but in perfect view, “opened the barrier and made the bridge. And this button…” The driver pressed something above his head and something thick and black slowly rose to prevent contact with him. The four of them sat there for a second before laughing, making comments about how sassy he was. None of them saw the driver’s sad smile or his growing affection for them.

When they finally pulled past the welcome sign, there were kids lining the path waving flags and holding up welcome signs like there were actually excited for the children of the worst villains the land had ever seen to arrive at their school. There was a merry band of players dancing to a tune none of them recognized through the doors, the four of them sat in shock until the driver told them he would open their doors. Realizing they would have to leave, Mal and Evie shoved as much in their bags as they could while Jay grabbed the electronics and Carlos snatched what might have been a blanket from behind their heads. When the door opened, Carlos was caught in surprise and Jay reached out to catch him right in time to prevent serious injury. 

The band promptly petered out in surprise while Evie and Mal followed the two boys out, both glancing at the poorly hidden amusement on the drivers face. The fact that the amusement was not aimed at them, but the watchers reactions solidified their appreciation for their driver. “Guys, get up.” 

As Jay and Carlos scrambled to their feet, a wide smile appeared to part the crowd followed by it’s attached plump body and two followers. “Leave it like you found it,” the light fae sang as she swept her hand towards the band to silence their whispering, “and by that I mean just leave it.”

“Ma’am, this is actually an old model and the reason he even got to that stuff was it was stacked for trash.” Mal’s head barely moved, but she was looking at the driver with suspicion. What would he gain by standing up for them? “It would just be going to the isle anyway.” He spoke quietly but that didn’t mean a thing, he sounded like a dad who was scolding his child in public. Jay tilted his head at the driver to show his appreciation and got the same in response. 

The light fae put on a strained smile as she tutted. “This isn’t the isle, though. Stealing, even if it turns out the objects would have been willingly given, won’t be tolerated here. Besides, it’s not your property to give away, is it?” Mal’s lip curled in a snarl before could stop herself. 

Carlos put the blanket back quietly while Jay huffed and chucked the visible stuff in without a care. He was quickly distracted by something pretty, moving forward to talk to one of the people that had followed the fae out. Mal stopped him when she recognized the face, though it was much lighter than her mother’s. “You must be Aurora’s daughter, you look just like your mom.” It was meant as an olive branch compliment, but it quickly became clear it wasn’t going to be recuperated. 

“And how would you know that, dart boards from your mother?” Mal’s smile immediately receded into a protective mask while the wishing fae looked startled but did nothing. The other person gave the girl a frustrated look, she sighed in fake defeat. “But you aren’t your mother so welcome to Auradon.” She was exactly like her grandfather, wasn’t she?

“Now that all of that is out of the way, thank you Audrey, I’m Fairy Godmother. I’ve been entrusted by Ben’s parents to be headmistress of this school and I expect the very best from all of my students.” Ah, so she was a wishing fae. The worst kind. 

“Fairy Godmother! Like bippity boppity boo?” When the headmistress nodded sweetly, Mal beamed. “You know I always wondered what it would be like if you appeared with that sweet smile, your magic, your  _ great _ advice, your wand…” Evie caught on quickly and voiced her agreement. 

“Oh thank you girls, but that’s all behind me now that there are only happily ever afters!” Harsh. “Besides, I’m always saying don’t look to the past or you’ll miss the future.” With that thought shut down, Fairy Godmother turned to introduce the other two. “You already met Audrey, the daughter of Sleeping Beauty and Prince Philip.” The privileged primped princesses waved her hand like she was at a parade. “And this is Ben…” 

“Prince Benjamin.” Audrey burst out as she moved his arm next to her where their hands were intertwined, to across her shoulder in the most possessive move Mal had ever seen. “Son of Queen Belle and King Adam, soon to be King of Auradon at only sixteen. He really is quite impressive.” 

“You had me at prince,” Evie whispered as she stepped forward to curtsy, looking up at him through her lashes. “My mom is a queen, which makes me a princess.” She put on her best smile to impress him with, which he returned. 

Of course Miss _"I don’t let any other girls within a hundred feet of my boyfriend because our relationship is clearly falling apart”_ had to butt in, stepping forward to look down at Evie. “The evil queen has no status here, which means neither do you.” 

Before any of them could attack Audrey, Ben stepped forward as well to reign in his girlfriend. “Though it isn’t common knowledge, the Evil Queen did have her own family kingdom before it was taken over by her husband to rule and then given to Snow White. So actually, Evie is a princess. It is wonderful to meet you, Princess Evie.” Ben bowed down to kiss her hand which made Evie and Audrey die in different ways. Mal had never seen her friends cheeks so red and she had never seen a princess look murderous. Jay and Carlos exchanged a glance which most likely meant they wouldn’t hurt Ben. 

Fairy Godmother clearly didn't like losing control of the situation and decided it was the perfect time to intervene. “The doors of knowledge are never shut!” She smiled widely, before clasping her hands. “Though the library hours are from 8am to 11pm and as you might have heard, I have a little thing about curfews.” While Mal and her friends laughed awkwardly, she whisked herself away while band followed suit. 

Ben stepped forward for a formal introduction, “It is so good to finally meet you all,” not faltering at Jay’s soft punch and instead returning one just as hard, moving on to Mal to see what greeting she would rather. He paused when she decided to shake his hand, looking at her questioningly before moving on to Carlos. “This is a momentous occasion and one that I hope will go down in history…” He paused when he saw Carlos’s dark covered fingers before shaking his hand anyway, whispering, “Chocolate is my favorite too.” He moved on to Evie and bowed again for another kiss on her hand. “As the day our two people began to heal.” 

“Or the day you showed four new students where their beds are.” Mal grinned cheekily at him while he just sighed and wondered if he had over done it. “Just a little, we liked you better when you were calling Evie princess.” 

“So much for my royal introduction,” Ben joked while the two of them chuckled softly. Mal was surprised by his behavior every time he breathed. He stood up for Evie against his girlfriend, took Jay’s punch like it was nothing, respected her boundaries and didn’t make fun of Carlos for having what was apparently called chocolate all over his face. Now...he was surprisingly funny, when he wasn’t pretending to be so posh. He started to move towards the doorway of the school, pausing at a statue which he described as his father’s. “This statute changes from man to beast to show how any person can change. It only works if I clap my hands which is what I’m about to do.” 

The Rotten Four appreciated the warning and watched in surprise as it quickly shifted into a horrible beast, at least twice the size of the original. “Does he shed much?” Mal asked while she analyzed it, realizing this is what his dad must have looked like when Belle first met him. She giggled when Ben deadpanned a response she wasn’t sure was serious or not. 

“My mom sheds but she’s allowed on the couch.” Carlos appeared surprised that anyone overheard his thoughts when Ben chuckled in complete juxtaposition with his girlfriend who looked murderous. Twice now he had recognized her friends as equals, shown great respect, and a willingness to understand their boundaries instead of making them conform. In that moment, Mal decided her thoughts on Prince Ben were at least  _ partially _ wrong and possibly a reflection of her hatred of his father. A prince was an important ally, but a  _ king _ who wanted to correct his mistakes was something Mal refused to turn down. 


	2. Cross That Bridge When We Get To It

The second Mal entered her dorm room she knew that someone out there must have it out for her. It was pink with large windows and big closets, nothing like she would have picked out for herself. “E, can you create some blackout curtains and a new bedspread for me? I don’t care what you do on your side of the room, if I’m going to have a canopy bed it’s going to have a purpose.” 

“Of course, after I finish a few outfits that are more... _ Auradon _ appropriate than what you’ve brought in that bag of yours.” Mal pouted as she took out the most covering pieces to put away, glaring at what little option she would have. “So these shorts, leggings, corset, excetera, excetera, are all that bad? I mean I know they’re all goody-goodies, but doesn’t that mean they should accept us as we come? In all our wrappings?” She held up a dark purple leather article that wouldn’t cover someone’s face, laying it against her chest with a sigh. 

“Just think about all of the people who are going to be assholes to us absolutely googly eyed over you as you destroy everything they love, it’ll make you feel better.” Evie sighed as she pulled out one of her favorite dresses that barely held in her assets. “I love my clothes too much for it to have an affect.”

Mal froze as she noticed a package wrapped up on one of the beds with a note,  _ you forgot something _ , written on it. She opened it slowly with green eyes watching for any signs of danger, freezing as she saw the thing Carlos and Jay were fighting over in the car. How..? Who…? She didn’t have time to question it as her mind was quickly back on her friends. “Do you think Jay and Carlos got separated after that stunt with the limo?” 

Of course not, that was just Mal’s worry whispering everything could go wrong in her ear. No Auradon kid would allow themselves to be placed with one of them. “Hey pup, meeting in five okay?” She ruffled Carlos’ hair and brushed a kiss on his cheek before moving to check on Jay. “You know that your dad won’t care about this stuff once we get the wand, whatever these things are will be trivial.” 

“Old habits die hard, Mal.” Jay grinned as he sorted everything out on his bed, from things he could pawn to gifts he was planning on giving to the rest of the group. Mal appreciated the dragon figurine that was in a threatening position, most likely right about to die when he found it. Evie fawned over the sheet of smooth fabric that none of them had ever seen before, and they all knew they’d each have something new to wear the next day. 

When Carlos was done goofing off on the boys gaming system, which Mal was  _ not _ jealous of and would  _ not _ be sneaking out of her room to use, they all sat on the two beds trying to figure out a plan. “How can we learn where the wand is?” 

“Well it won’t be online because it’s a highly protected artifact,” Carlos pointed out. “If you guys can get me a place, I can plan the fastest way to get there and pull up the security plans.” Well that was good, but how were they going to find it? 

“Mirror Mirror, shard in hand, search your way across the land. Where is Fairy Godmother’s wand?” 

The museum looked a lot like Auradon Prep and Mal had to wonder if in making everything so grand, they ran out of ideas for something new. “Evie, check your mirror.” All of them could see the rush to check her makeup before realizing none of them would comment on it. “E, you’re beautiful. And you can be a beautiful person with a wand if you just tell us where it is.” 

“Of course, it’s this way.” If her makeup wasn’t keeping her skin so light, Evie might have visibly blushed. They all moved over to the door, ducking when they saw that there was a guard on duty watching all of the cameras. “Mal, what are we going to do?” 

“My mother’s spinning wheel is right there, it could still work.” They poked their heads up just enough to keep their target in sight, Mal flipped through the spellbook trying to find something. She gave up part way through, whispering, “prick your finger on the wheel, your sleepy fate you will seal,” into her fist before blowing it towards the guard. They all watched with bated breath as the guy stood up and started checking out the wheel, but he wasn’t going for it. “Prick your finger, prick it deep, send my victim off to sleep.” There was a silent cheer in the air as the guard finally gave in to the spell and pricked himself on the needle. “Open the door, open it silent. No need, to be violent.” 

Jay pouted as the door swung open without a single squeak, disappointed that he wasn’t needed. He started grinning again, though, when Carlos literally tripped over himself trying to get through the door, so he picked him up in a piggyback ride. “Can’t take you anywhere, pup.” 

“I don’t  _ want _ you to take me anywhere, asshole.” But Carlos didn’t fight him on it, allowing himself to be carried and almost falling asleep to the steady rhythm of them climbing the stairs. The remaining trio all grinned at each other. 

Those grins quickly fell away as they came face to face with the statues of their parents in the Hall of Villains. Jafar stood with his back straight and his eyes sneering down at the viewer, staff in hand as the eyes glowed red. Behind him was a barely there outline of his genie form laughing. Mal grabbed Jay’s hand to stop him from shaking, Evie caught Carlos as there was nothing left to hold him up. When Mal’s eyes fell on her own mother, her hand in Jay’s was no longer just for his benefit. Her mother stood with wings spread wide above her head, disapproving and stepping forward as if to smackdown whoever dared get close enough. 

“Mom…” was carried by two voices as Evie and Carlos finally got steady on their own feet. Jay released Mal’s hand to drag Carlos away from the statue of his mother that looked nothing like the woman on the isle. Her hair was wavy curls, partially covered by the hat that sat on the side of her head. Her eyes were cold and calculating instead of crazed and indifferent, mouth drawn in a cruel smile as she blew smoke at the viewer from her long cigarette. The stand she was on was made from wire dog crates. Mal’s attention was quickly drawn away from the DeVil sign and to her best friend who was staring back at a reflection of herself. 

The Evil Queen looked so much younger when she was in power, she couldn’t have been more than 30. Even with her headpiece covering her hair, her face was almost an exact replica of Evie’s. Same nose, same eyes. Same skin color. The Evil Queen was smiling warmly as she offered an apple to the viewer, looking ever the caring mother. But if you moved around to the other side, her spirit was laughing as she stirred a cauldron with her spell book floating next to her. “You are nothing like her.” 

“She was sixteen when she was forced to marry Snow White’s father, because my grandparents had died and no one trusted her to run the kingdom. Snow was only four years old and then the King died three years later. Everyone thought it was my mom, but it wasn’t. So they started calling for Snow to be Queen at seven years old. For the next six years all my mother heard was how she wasn’t fit to be on the throne. Then Snow ran away and she sent a hunter after her to make sure she survived, but then the story got twisted into him trying to kill her. Mother grew angry, bitter. She had been told for so many years she was the villain of the story, falling in bed with an older king to steal his kingdom even though it wasn’t her choice, that she killed the king, that she tried to murder Snow. So she decided to prove just how Evil she could be.” Evie wasn’t crying, she had trained herself to never let them fall. “She became evil because no one believed in her.” 

Mal didn’t like the look in Evie’s eyes, like that was a bad thing. “I know, my mother was the same. But we learn from their mistakes.” Neither girl knew what mistakes the other meant, and if they were honest neither knew what they themselves were thinking. 

The alarm snapped them out of it as they looked at each other and growled, “Jay.” The four met up at the top of the stairs, snapping at each other while all of the emotions from the night broke out at once. Thankfully one of them had their head on straight, because Carlos disabled the alarm and told whoever was on the phone line that it was just a technical error. Evie was the angriest of them all, lashing out at Jay. “I can’t believe you, now we have to go to school in the morning!” 

Remedial Goodness was going about as well as one would expect. They were being treated like they were idiots who had no understanding of what was wrong and what was right. They knew what was right, what was the law, and what was revenge. They knew what was expected of them from both the people of Auradon, good and bad, and their parents. Just the bad. 

“If you find that your friend has borrowed something without asking you, do you a) tell an adult? b) talk it through with them? c) get angry? d) take something of theirs?” Mal wanted to bite someone because all of those were valid answers for Auradon. Telling an adult was childish but it meant there was a mediator, something that Fairy Godmother would appreciate for Villain Kids. Talking would be something an Auradon kid would do, but talking can always escalate. Getting angry was off the table even though it was a valid emotion. On the isle you would do the same thing to show why it was a bad idea but this wasn’t the isle. 

Mal and Evie both raised their hands but the boys were too busy signing at each other under the table. When Evie was called on, she straightened her back. “I would talk to my friend about it and tell them how it made me feel. I would also ask why they took it.” 

“But as you know, we both tend to have tempers when it comes to these situations. I would find an adult to talk to either for advice or to mediate so nothing got too heated.” It was strange to see such strong concern appear on someone’s face. When Evie nodded to show she understood, it disappeared. “Though I can see where you’re coming from, if we grew up here we might be able to have a calmer discussion if someone stole something from us.” 

“Ladies.” The pointer Fairy Godmother carried tapped the chalkboard to get their attention. “Though I appreciate your willingness to answer, you will only speak when I call on you. And please remember, this isn’t a debate class.” 

“Mother.” The girl who walked into their class was nothing like Mal would have expected after calling their teacher  _ mother _ . Though her hair was a boring bob with a bow in it and she had the same round face, there was more to this girl than meets the eye. Her eyes were flashing between brown and pure white with barely controlled annoyance, her nails biting into her skin just short of blood. She walked between their tables with a bent head, not out of fear but an apology for interrupting. “You need to sign off on the early dismissal for the coronation so the band can get set up and Ben can get dressed. You also need to sign off on the seating arrangements.” 

“Thank you dear one. Everyone here remembers my daughter Jane…” The Villain Kids rolled their eyes behind fake excitement, all four of them suddenly interested in this shy girl who didn’t flinch when they look at her. 

“Mother, no one remembers me.” Jane sighed under her breath before grabbing the clipboard, walking confidently down the aisle to do whatever she was supposed to do. When Fairy Godmother’s back was turned to write a new question, Mal tapped her temple and then touched her pointer fingers together like a closed door. Her friends nodded to show their understanding. 

Fairy Godmother coughed to get their attention. “Okay, new question. Your friends throw a party but you aren’t invited.” They all had to choke down a snarl. “Do you a) crash the party and curse your friends? b) throw your own party on the same day? Or c) let it go?” The rest of the class there was at least one mention for each of their parents, including; getting jealous of someone who was prettier than you and either poisoning them or complimenting them, finding a lost puppy and either finding its rightful owner or using it’s fur, and not getting the position you want so either working harder or spelling everyone. By the end of the class, Fairy Godmother was tutting about the boys needing to get their “energy” out on the field. 

“Is there something for us to get our,” Mal gestured between her and Evie, “ _ energy _ out on? You know, besides acting like our mothers since I can’t exactly go for a fly.” 

If there was such a thing as detention, Mal surely would have been put in it. As it was, Ben suggested letting her try out for the team with the other two since there was a ward around the field that prevented magical cheating. “At least let her try, Fairy Godmother, the guys aren’t going to be rough with her.” 

After giving in to Ben’s pleading, Fairy Godmother let the three of them join tryouts only after giving a quick rundown of the rules. The blue team, which consisted of Ben who was on defense, Jay who was on offense and half of the other guys on the team who Mal really didn’t care to pay attention to, got the ball first. Her team, which was her on offense, Carlos and Chad on defense along with whatever guys were left. The game started off relatively normal with Mal calling for the ball because she was completely open and the guys on her team ignoring her, until Jay got the ball. She chased after him through the kill zone, easily dodging all of the spikes sent out at them which were surprisingly accurate, before calling for Carlos. Jay had left a war path of bodies in his wake from both teams, but was stopped short when Carlos ducked under his legs and flipped him over. “Mal!” 

She raced forward and cradled the ball with her stick, not even needing to look to know it was there as she raced back through the kill zone. Jay was hot on her tail and would have gotten her if she didn’t shoot from the quarter line, grinning as the goalie missed it entirely. She turned around and blew a kiss through her mask at Jay who pretended to fall over and convulse. 

“THAT’S MY GIRL!” Carlos charged her and caught her in a tackle, both of them falling to the ground in a wrestling match that was still happening when Jay lifted them off the ground. “I got you Jay, I can’t believe you went easy on me like that.” They stopped joking with each other to wave to their cheerleader. Evie, who was extremely excited for them, was literally flipping out. She had done at least two cartwheels and a few back flips, all without leaving the space she was watching from. 

The coach blew the whistle and called everyone in, everyone but Mal having taken their helmets off. His gaze landed on Jay first. “That was aggressive and could have possibly gotten someone injured. That was amazing! Whatever your name is, Jay?, you’re on the team.” He turned his gaze to the younger of the two. “Blondie, that D was impressive especially because this kid knocked over everyone else. You need to work on your offense a bit but so do some of the other guys, don’t worry about it.” Finally he looked at Mal through her helmet. “And you, guy I don’t know. Great shot.” 

Chad was clearly offended by the fact that coach thought a girl was good enough to be on the team, whispering a comment about being a gentleman and letting the girl score under his breath. He flinched when Mal took her helmet off finally to glare at him full force, her lips pulling back into a snarl. 

“I don’t care if that’s really what it was, she’s fast and she’s good. She’s your new teammate so learn to block her shots.” Okay, maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all. “You three find me later and we can go over something you’ve never seen before. A rule book.” The grin on Coaches face was enough to let them know he was just teasing, new found confidence giving them a pep in their step as they went back on the field for more drills. 

“I got asked to be on the cheerleading squad! Mom would be so proud of me, cheerleaders always have a boyfriend and since we’re  _ surrounded _ by princes…” Evie’s squeaking was getting annoying, but anything to get them an edge. 

“Ben, I can’t believe you. Letting that evil fae play Tourney was one thing because the longer she spends somewhere that prevents her from using magic, the better. But inviting a self centered apple poisoning, boyfriend stealing...ugh! onto the cheering squad?! Benny bear I’m disappointed in you.” If Mal wasn’t supportive of Evie before, she would have been the second she heard Audrey, who wasn’t even trying to hide behind whispers. As it was, Mal was three times as excited to watch her best friend take down the privileged bitch who stood in their way of finally succeeding at something worthwhile. 

Evie and Audrey disappeared at the same time in opposite directions, leaving Mal no buffer between her and Ben. It wasn’t that she didn’t like him, for all of his privileged narcissism dripping friends, he was actually funny sometimes and got her on the Tourney team which was something she didn’t know she wanted until then. “You’re great at art, but I’m not sure that’s school approved.” 

“Does it have to be?” Her snark wasn’t so much as cruel as defensive around him and she hated it. It was her signature, her brand. If the rest of the world didn’t like it than they could try and make something better, another competitor just meant another step to success to squash under her boots. 

Ben shook his head with a chuckle. “No, I guess not. But you should really consider using the art room instead of the hallway for your projects, at least use the masks we have in there to protect you from the fumes. They’re poisonous, you know?” 

Mal’s fingers brushed over the cloth on her hip that she had been using for years to cover her mouth and nose. She shook herself out of it with a deadpan look, reminding Ben that he wasn’t talking to  _ any _ new student. “I’m the first girl to play tourney...ever. Do you really think I’d have fun in a dingy classroom painting fruit? No thank you.” 

Mal wasn’t intending on stalking the other fae, or even doing anything but use the bathroom for its intended purpose. She was surprised to see Jane fixing her hair in the mirror but took the opportunity for what it was, moving so that she was sitting on the counter next to where she was. “Hello Jane.” 

“Hello Mal. Have you come to try to trick me into being friends? Maybe get revenge on one of the light faes for once?” The comments were teasing but left no room for argument over whether Jane knew what Mal’s true intentions were. “No, I can not get access to my mom’s wand, she hasn’t even taught  _ me _ magic let alone would allow me near something that powerful. Yes, I do know that your eyes have been on that wand since the moment you arrived and that you tried to steal it from the museum a few nights ago. No, I don’t think you’re anything like your parents, I think you’re smarter than them.” 

They sat there staring at each other for a few moments while Mal processed that information. Jane was never taught magic and couldn’t help get the wand, she knew they wanted it. Bad. Jane not reporting them and believing them to be better than their parents was good though, something she could use. “What makes you think you’ve got me figured out?” 

“I don’t have real friends here, Chad cut my hair like this because I wouldn’t do his homework. So I’ve learned to watch and gather secrets, so the next time someone comes to cut my hair I can dangle their social life in front of their face before I destroy it.” Jane was completely calm, which wasn’t expected but gave Mal an insight into who this girl was. “I’m not angry because they’ve grown up in a world where all the villains are gone. I, on the other hand, know being mean and being evil is just a difference of whether you grow up or not. And there are a  _ lot _ of mean kids here.” 

“I like you.” And she really did. Jane was similar to Mal in some ways, putting on a face for the world because you have to live up to Mommy Dearest and one slip means hell to pay. Because it’s not just you who ends up blamed. “Let’s be allies, or friends. Whatever you call it here.” 

“Allies or friends, there’s some trust that needs to be built here. I don’t trust you yet because I’m waiting on your price. I get what and in return, what do you get from me?” Mal’s eyes turned green as a sign of magic so Jane remained still, the spell extending her hair back to it’s normal length and curl. “You’re going to teach me magic.” 

“And you my friend are going to tell me all of those secrets you hold onto for the rest of Auradon, if you want to be friends, that is. The hair is an offering of goodwill and a show of what I can do in return for the information that Chad is a cheater. Which isn’t all that surprising.” Mal shrugged as she looked at her nails, side eyeing the light fae before her. “You don’t have to decide now, it’s not like I’m not going to disappear by tomorrow morning.” 

Jane shook her head of her thoughts. “We’ll start with allies and work our way to friendship.” When Mal raised an eyebrow, Jane smiled brightly. “Friendship is when one of our secret agendas works and the other fails, we’ll just have to see who’s right in the end.” 

As the brunette skipped her way out of the bathroom, Mal chuckled. “Yeah, I really like that girl.”


	3. Friends Know Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A snapshot into Jane's friendship with the other Auradon Kids.

Jane was completely sure about her alliance with Mal and the fact that both of them had a secret agenda. But that was just the problem, Jane’s secret agenda was to pull the new kids out of the darkness and into the grey area that she lived in. So she went to the people that she trusted the most in school. Audrey and Chad just happened to be there. 

“I need some advice, I don’t know what to do…” She froze when she crashed through Ben’s door to find not only Lonnie, but the other two as well. Jane kept right on going after a second, knowing full well that she couldn’t get Audrey to leave when there was gossip involved and Chad would stay just to piss her off. “Mal and I just became friends. We connected over being fae but I don’t know how to do that with the other three.” 

Audrey was lounging in the special chair she had brought to Ben’s room for her, without him knowing by the way, while she rolled her eyes. “You don’t. Because those people don’t  _ have _ friends, they have minions who follow them around like stuffed puppies.” She sighed. “ _ You want to hang out with them? Why, Jane... _

_ (sung) _

_ Look at you, as simple as a flower _

_ Still a little kid, just a teen _

_ You know why we stay away from those kids... _

Jane sighed. “I know but…” She was quieted by Lonnie grabbing her hands and almost begging her to listen. 

_ That's right, to keep us safe and sound, here _

_ I never knew this day was coming _

_ Knew that you'd want to befriend a villain  _

_ Never, not us _

Jane tried again, “But--” and failed again. Audrey shushed her from her chair, getting up to stand by the window as she gestured to the grounds like it had all of the answers. 

_ Shh! _

_ Trust me, friend _

_ Princess knows best _

_ Princess knows best _

_ Listen to your ruler _

_ It's a scary world out there _

_ Princess knows best _

_ One way or another _

_ Something will go wrong, I swear _

_ Ruffians, thugs _

_ Poison apples, sand traps _

_ Darkness and fur coats _

_ A dragon _

Jane felt her anger boil as all of the mistakes their parents made were thrown back at her. She was not an idiot, she knew all of this. But it didn’t matter. “ _ No! _ ” Chad glared at her from his spot against the wall, whispering the opposite. “But--” 

Lonnie sighed as if she understood, bringing Jane over to a chair to talk to her like a child. Jane was not a child anymore, she could make her own decisions. 

_ Also dark spells _

_ Dogs with no more teeth, and _

_ Stop, no more, you'll just upset me _

_ Your friends are right here _

_ We will all protect you _

_ Darling, here's what I suggest _

_ Skip the drama _

_ Stay with us now, _

_ Your friends know best _

_ Your friends know best _

_ Take it from your sister _

_ On your own, you won't survive _

_ Primmed, proper _

_ Childish, clumsy _

_ Please, they'll eat you up alive _

_ Gullible, naÎve _

_ Positively lovely _

Audrey hadn’t spoken up in a while, so of course her first thought was to be insulting, pinching Jane’s cheeks to show off how large they were. It wasn’t Jane’s fault that light wishing fae had round faces. 

_ Ditzy and a bit, well, hmm vague _

_ Plus, I believe _

_ Gettin' kinda chubby _

_ I'm just saying cause I wuv you _

_ Princess understands _

_ Princess’ here to help you _

_ All we have is one request _

Because she had pulled her knees to her chest, her friends were trying to get her attention. She ignored them until Lonnie pushed her hair back, looking like ever the concerned sister she had grown to be. “What?” 

As if planned, all three of them whispered, “ _ Don’t ever hang out with those kids again. _ ” 

_ Don't forget it _

_ You'll regret it _

_ Your friends know best _

When they were gone and Jane was left to face Ben alone, she collapsed onto his bed next to his legs and started crying. She knew Chad and Audrey wouldn’t approve, they hated anything and everyone who threatened their power. But Lonnie warning her away? Wasn’t there a little more trust there than that? “They have a point,” Ben whispered as he tried to fix her hair, only to find her suddenly sitting up and glaring at him more fiercely than anyone had ever seen on an Auradonian face. “The rest of us are pretty used to defending ourselves from the world,” he tried to explain, reaching out as she started walking out. “You’re just...not.” 

“Bull shit.” Ben wouldn’t hear her, no one listened anyway. 


	4. Relationships

As far as a Evie had been concerned, Jane was a threat to her relationship with Mal. Would they stop hanging out as much because Mal was on a power trip? Very quickly she was proven wrong, within the first few minutes of their meeting. Jane was fawning over Evie’s designs and wondering if she could look good in leather. 

“I’ll sketch something up for you real quick if you want to bring me some of your old clothes you don’t like, so I’ll have enough material?” Without question, Jane asked for colors because she wanted to make sure it worked with Evie’s design and a bunch of other things that put a smile on the Princess’ face. “Anything you bring is fine.” 

When Jane was gone, Mal lifted her head from going through the spellbook. “You know she’ll get in trouble with her mother if you so much as give her a jacket that stands out. And everything you make stands out, even though it’s in a good way.” In the end, Evie held onto her projects for when Jane was ready to wear them. On Mal’s advice, they ranged from borderline to similar to what was hidden in the back of Mal and Evie’s closets. 

Evie sighed again as she spotted yet another smile from the beautiful boy across from her. Mal had already claimed Ben which was fine with her for the most part, so she had quickly shifted her gaze to someone else. “Any chance he’s in line for a throne? Preferably first in line…” 

Doug, who was her chemistry partner, rolled his eyes at her dopey behavior. “That’s Chad. His parents are Cinderella and Prince Charming, he inherited the charm but not a lot of there there. You know what I mean?” Though Evie could clearly see the boy was projecting an air of idiocy, he was clearly not. He knew Evie was watching and was giving the impression to let her guard down like so many before him. He’d fail. 

“Evie!” the teacher, Mr. Deley, called out as if to catch her in the act. “Perhaps this may be review for you, but it is not for the rest of the class. If you’re feeling  _ especially _ chatty today, why don’t you answer the question we’re going over. What is the atomic weight of silver?” 

The answer was on the tip of her tongue, but one look at Chad and she slipped into a ditzy expression. “Atomic weight? Well it can’t be very much, it’s an atom.” She giggled when Chad smiled at her easily, relief washing over her before realizing she had to go to the board. She swiped her mirror out of her bag before approaching, pretending to glance at it before giving the answer. “The atomic weight is equal to 106.905 times .5200, plus 108.905 times .4800, which, Mr. Deley, would give us 107.9 atomic mass units or AMU for short.” 

“I forgot,” Mr. Deley said with a slightly annoyed tone in his voice as he took the chalk back from her, looking over her work with a careful eye, “it is a mistake to ever underestimate a…” He looked startled when she finished it for him. 

“Villain Princess?” She smiled cooly. “Don’t make that mistake again. Oh, and here I’m  _ only _ a princess. At least according to Ben.” Evie turned to go back to her seat, feeling triumphant when a note was passed into her hand as she walked next to Chad. Certain it was about a meeting, she winked at him as she sat down. 

Doug pouted next to her but Evie didn’t care. Her mark was in sight and nothing was going to make her lose him, not even a blushy stalker like Doug. 

Though she had cheer practice in a few minutes, Evie allowed Chad to grab her hand and bring her under the bleachers. “Is everyone back home as pretty as you? I can’t imagine that’s possible.” He leaned in close as Evie gave a nervous giggle, placing her hand on his chest to keep some space between them. 

“I like to think I’m the fairest of them all, second to my mother, of course.” She forced herself to blush as she looked down shyly, glancing up out of her eyelashes. “How many rooms in your castle?” Though hers was quite large, most of the rooms were unsafe to be without magic. Angry at being allowed to fall into despair. 

Chad scoffed like he was sure she should know this by now. “Too many to count,” he whispered as he leaned in, pausing right before their lips met to say, “you know you really nailed that chemistry problem today. You’re going to have all of the nerds falling in love with you…” She sighed in relief but masked it as disappointment when he moved away. Both of them were playing a game here, a dance off to see who would give in first. 

Even though she knew he meant it as an insult, she went back to her shy persona. “I-I’m not that smart, really.” She rubbed her arm when he didn’t seem to believe her. “But I’m good at sewing and cleaning, cooking and singing. Like your mom, Cinderella, without the ratty dress.” She relaxed when he chuckled. “I only sound smart because of this magic mirror, I had it with me when I went up to the board. If I ask it a question, the answer appears on it.” When she saw the greedy look in his eyes, she sighed with as much disappointment as she could muster. “Too bad it only works for me, it would make a great gift for whoever my boyfriend ends up being…” 

Chad pouted. “He would be a lucky guy to have someone like you…” He leaned against the bleachers, a slow smile rising on his cheeks. “Hey, if you could use that thing to do my homework on top of yours, it would be like  _ giving _ me the mirror. Like, I was your boyfriend.” A trade off, this she could work with. 

“After I do your homework, we can be together?” Evie quickly agreed with him, knowing her mother would be proud to know her daughter got a boy within the first few days of school when it took others months. “Maybe when I’m done, you can get Fairy Godmother to bring her wand out. I’d love to see it.” The look in her eyes was completely suggestive but her tone was light, leaving Chad appearing ever the starved lion. 

When Chad was gone and all that was left was his book bag full of unfinished assignments, Doug appeared on the bleachers above her. “I couldn’t help but overhearing, that you would like to see Fairy Godmother’s wand.” 

Evie raised her eyebrows at his sudden proximity when he climbed down, the same crawling feeling appearing as when Chad got close to her. Doug might have been a nerd, but he was a boy. And Evie knew what boys wanted from her. “Are you stalking me?” 

“Technically, yes, because the definition is to pursue or track. I was looking for you and here you are.” He pushed his glasses up his nose with a bright smile, as if that made everything okay. “I too have a fascination with Fairy Godmother’s wand, which is one of the many reasons I’m so excited for Ben’s coronation. Perhaps we could sit together and discuss its attributes? I get to sit up front with the band.” 

Evie perked up at the mention of the coronation, suddenly much more interested in Doug. “Are you saying that Fairy Godmother brings it out of the museum for the coronation?” She could feel her magic rising, a new feeling that she couldn’t believe she was surprised by. 

“Yes...and asking you out on a date?” Evie looked him over and bit her lip in concentration, masking it as something to distract him. She really would rather be with someone who  _ hadn’t _ stalked her but Chad was playing his own game. Doug really  _ was _ interested in her. 

Evie chuckled as she backed away. “We’ll see….” 

Jane and Mal were waiting for her in the dorm room, working on magic spells together. So far they had created a more palatable color scheme for the room, cleaned it thoroughly because it still smelled like perfume from the last two girls that lived there, and made new fabrics for Evie appear. “Awe, thank you!” 

“Thank  _ you _ ! I never would have felt comfortable wearing this without you.” Instead of the mousy girl dress she wore before, Jane was sporting a light blue corset that was made from the old dress, a darker skirt which flowed down to mid thigh instead of the knee length she’d been sporting before. To cover her shoulders, she wore one of Evie’s old leather jackets that had faded to a lighter color over time. Light blue stockings left a thin line of skin between where the skirt stopped and where they started, just a hint of rebellion. Finally, black shoes covered her toes before dissolving into vines that curled around Jane’s knees. 

“You’re wearing one of my borderline outfits! And are those…” Evie gasped as she took in the small studs climbing Jane’s left ear, including the one on her lobe there were four in total. “Mal, you didn’t.” 

“ _ I _ accidentally did,” Jane told her. “Sort of. I wrote down the spell I used…” She held out a piece of paper that read  _ I wish my ears weren’t so boring, whatever shall I do? I wish I had a piercing or two.  _ “I’m just glad it didn’t give me the one I was thinking of or mom would have killed all three of us.” When her friends looked at her in question, Jane tapped the middle of her lip. After shocked gasps, they fell into giggles. Content that their magic lessons were going well, Evie started on a new dress for herself to wear on her date with Chad. 

She was so invested in her creation that she only realized that she had homework to when the door opened. She squeaked as she dove for his books, only half listening as a girl introduced herself. “My real name is Lin Li, but everyone calls me Lonnie because it’s too hard to pronounce I’m…” 

“Fa Mulan’s daughter, it’s nice to meet you Lin Li.” Mal’s perfect pronunciation surprised everyone but Evie, they knew the Huns on the isle and they would kill someone over pronouncing their name wrong. It was a show of respect, and Mal informed them as such. “Unless you want me to call you Lonnie.” 

“It’s nice to hear my real name. Anyway, I came to ask a favor? I brought money to pay for it because I know magic always comes with a price. But I really liked what you did with Jane’s…” The new girl was quiet before asking a million questions about how Jane got her ears pierced without her mother’s permission. “Can you do mine?!” 

“I don’t know how, but Mal’s been teaching me magic so I might be able to do your hair.” Evie looked up for this, wanting to support their new ally. “I wish, I wish to see this through, give Lin Li something new. I wish, I wish, with this rule, Lin Li’s hair must be cool.” They all watched as the terrible bob with bangs,  _ seriously, why did all of these girls have the same hair? _ , transformed under a patch of white sparks. Wherever they touched, Lin Li’s hair grew until it reached just past her shoulders in a style that was reminiscent of her mother’s except with wavy curls. “Do you like it?” 

“I do, fuck anyone who says you aren’t good at magic, Jane.” If either Auradon girl was surprised at her use of foul language, neither commented on it as they looked in the mirror to check out their new looks. 

“Yeah,” they whispered together. “Fuck ‘um.”

Lin Li was playing with her new hair as they ate dinner, sighing happily ever time it brushed into view. “Thank you so much, I can’t believe Mal is teaching you magic like that. Does your mom know?”

“She was upset with me for using ‘the easy way out’ as she called it, but my hair looked like this before Chad cut it. I don’t see why she’s so upset about it, she acts like learning how to use magic is going to bring back the dark ages because ‘we only use magic to protect ourselves’.” Jane rolled her eyes as she dug into her sandwich, humming her content with how it tasted. She loved when they used a variety of food sources, her favorites were the avocados that were brought over from the southern countries. 

“Mal seems pretty cool but Evie seems just as vain as her mother. If she is really your friend, she would stop chasing after Chad and support you.” When her friend saw the look on Jane’s face, remorse was on her own. “She doesn’t know, does she?” 

“She’s about to. And you can bet that Evie is one of the greatest girl’s you will ever meet, she’s a princess and she’s going to be one of the most respected leaders of our time.” Jane knew Mal had been walking over to talk to Lon...Lin Li, but she didn’t stop to chat.  _ Okay, Evie might still be working on one of her designs for the cheer squad...Gotcha _ . Jane raced towards the field where Evie was going over moves with Aubrey. “Evie!” She slowed when she realized her skirt was not made for running, surprised that it kept her decent the whole time. “I need to talk to you.” 

Jane had never seen someone dismiss Aubrey so blatantly and it made her love her new friend even more. “What’s going on, Jane? Is there something wrong with one of your new outfits? Did your mom get you in trouble?” 

“Well she got upset with me but when I told her I was trying to become friends with you, she seemed to get this look like I was naive but had to learn for myself. Which was stupid…” With a shake of brown hair, Jane brought herself back to the reason she was there. “Evie, your outfits are great, they aren’t why I came to talk to you. I wanted to warn you about Chad.” She held up her hand before her friend could protest, giving her an apologetic look when Evie deflated. “I know you’re smart enough to know he’s using you. But he’s not going to give you what you want in return, he does this to a lot of girls. He tried doing it to me and when I refused...well you saw the way my hair was before.” 

There was a shift in the air as Evie took in what Jane was saying, her fists tightening and eyes narrowing. “Chad is going to skip out on our deal with his prize and I’ll get nothing. And, he hurt you because you were smart enough not to fall for his tricks.” 

“Evie, he’s not worth it. He’s too stupid to learn from his mistakes, you’ll just make people angry.” With the gold gone from Evie’s eyes, Jane grabbed her hands in a light hold that she could pull out of if she wanted. “You know you’re a lot like me when I first got here. I thought I had to fix myself to be beautiful, even though I was more amazing than any of the other girls who talked down to me. Yes I have good looks, but I also have a good heart. You do too. Fuck them for thinking their face was enough.”

“Yeah, fuck them.” Evie hugged her tightly and for the first time in a long time, part of them started to heal.


	5. Showing Strength

“I could really use you three on the team, you work well together and you aren’t afraid to get down and dirty. The teams a bunch of princes, if you know what I mean.” The coach shrugged with a chuckle. 

Jay laughed while the other two just leaned in closer to him, unsure of where this was going. “I know, right? It’s all-,” he straightened himself up and put on his best posh accent, “-‘Oh pardon me, old chum, did I bump into you? I’m mighty sorry.’” He returned to his normal voice, wrapping an arm protectively around Mal. “It’s ridiculous, like they’re trying to avoid any contact with each other. Though they won’t be touching Mal or Carlos, they won’t be able to.” 

“I can’t handle the ball as well as you though, I’d be on defense. If they don’t touch me we’ve got a problem.” Carlos grinned cheekily but it was clearly masking his nervous jitters, his hands hadn’t stopped wringing each other. 

The coach watched them with eyes that seemed familiar, almost like ones back from the isle. The only ones Mal trusted, so she tapped Jay’s thigh. “Things were rougher on the isle, let’s just say you didn’t want to get caught.” 

“I can imagine, I know who we put there. I’m glad you’re here though, you seem like you four have a good family in each other. A team is sort of like a family, at least in uniform. Out on that field you protect each other, you make sure that you have each other’s backs. There is not just you out there, do you understand?” All three of them nodded. “Good. Now do you understand why I need you to know the rules? You can’t protect your family if the ref takes you off the field.” 

A silent conversation passed through the three of them in taps and facial expressions, ending with Jay nodding his head. While Coach smiled when he heard their response, that quickly faded. “What if one of our teammates hurts Mal?” 

“Then I will take care of that, though I’m sure Mal would do more damage in response than they could do to her.” Coach sighed. “If any of them are aggressive or even make you uncomfortable, Mal, or either of you boys, I will do one of two things. One, I will suspend them from play. Or two, I will kick them off the team and report them to the school. The team might be your family, but so am I.” 

Jay had seen enough of the light fae to know that she was much tougher than she looked, or at least wished to be. She wasn’t afraid of him or his friends, in fact was vying for an alliance. He had faced more female gang leaders on the Isle than male so he was well aware of how much potential she had to be a powerhouse in Auradon, even more than her mother. But if they were going to be allies, she needed to be able to protect herself because he couldn’t have her being useless. “Alright, one of the most important parts of defense is your stance and staying upright.” 

She shifted her feet when he kicked at them gently, nodding intently as she watched his movements. “Okay.” She stumbled backwards when she pushed him and ended up on her butt trying to get away from him. “Oof!” 

“Don’t try to stop yourself, let your body move through it. You’ll end up father away from me and you won’t be on the ground which leaves you in a good position.” Jay helped her up and then this time pushed her from the back. She started to stumble but then leaned into the fall and allowed her feet time to catch her, ending up a few feet away and standing up right. “Good, now let’s see if you can do it if I push you sideways.” Once she was steady with the basics, they were both sweating from the effort after an hour and a half. They stopped for a water break just as Lin Li started walking over to them.

“What are you two doing? It looks like you’re going through a workout…” She very obviously didn’t understand why Jane was there and was still skittish around Jay. He understood that, the girls on the Isle weren’t exactly friendly except when they wanted something. 

“Jay is teaching me self-defense! Nothing too complicated, but I won’t get knocked around as much anymore.” It was strange to see eyes glow with power and to not feel threatened, the only people on the Isle who still had magic were Hades and his father. Both of them had minimal abilities, but they were still terrifying as a reminder of their power. Jane, however, always had her eyes change when she was happy and it was nice to see that reaction from her. 

Lin Li didn’t look too encouraged, so Jay quickly explained, “Evie and Mal are my sisters, of course I know girls can be powerful. They just need to learn how to use their own weapons.” He shrugged before digging in a box he had dragged out, tossing Lin Li a sword with a grin. “Good catch.” 

“I’m going to assume you knew I was trained so I won’t have to kick your ass,” Lin Li warned but quickly relaxed when he nodded, swinging it experimentally and testing out a few moves. “My mother required all of us to learn how to defend ourselves, even Ting Ting, Su, and Mei’s children. Just because they are royalty doesn’t mean they won’t find themselves in dangerous situations.” She got dangerously close to where Jay was, only to find her move blocked by a sword he had picked up. She went to put it away, but he got in a defensive stance as an open invitation to fight. “You would fight a girl?” 

“He would _lose_ to a girl,” a voice from behind them added, Evie picked up a practice sword as well and swung at Jay with ease. “There were plenty of weapons on the isle from uprisings against guards like batons and whips, some homemade swords from the pirates.” 

Both Jane and Lin Li looked horrified at the idea of there being _any_ weapons on the isle, but Jay agreed with Evie. “Then there was the stuff that we came up with to use, like rocks in scarves and spears from the driftwood we found. It was too damaged from the salt to be used for fires or building, so it was easier to cut them down and use for defense.” 

It was obvious the Auradon girls were questioning why there was a need to defend themselves at all, but they kept silent. 

Ben was wondering the halls as he often did when he needed to think, glancing out the windows to observe what normal kids did with their free time instead of writing declarations and going to lessons about public relations, how to put on his best face. He was stunned into stopping his walk when he noticed a sword fight going on by the Tourney field. He was about to call out, when he realized they were having fun instead of settling a score. 

“Left, left!” Jay teased as Jane tried to wrestle with him, both of them laughing as they tried to knock the other. “Come on, notice where my eyes are, where my hands are going. Did I shift?” He continued teaching her, even when she threw a light punch at his face. “There you go!” 

Though he wasn’t excited that Jane was getting involved with the VK’s, he was proud of her for working on defense and branching out to new people. It wasn;t that he believed the new kids were evil, it was just that he understood they would need an adjustment period and it would be hard for everyone involved. Jane wasn’t the type of person who could walk away from that if she had gotten too involved, even if it was for her own good. He just wanted to protect her. 

He moved his gaze from where one of his best friends was fighting to a flash of blue hair and the clanging of metal. Lin Li had always been a great sword fighter and could take most people down in a fight with little to no time, but he was shocked to see Evie holding her own. “We should do this more often,” Lin Li cheered and the other girl was quick to agree. 

“Prince Ben,” Fairy Godmother called from down the hallway, forcing Ben to look away from the window so she wouldn’t see what Jane was doing. “What are you looking at?” Before she could look out the window, Ben asked why she was looking for him as a distraction. Even though he knew it was going to just add more to his plate, it was worth it to give Jane some time to be herself without her mother making her feel aggrieved.


	6. We’re Friends, Dude

To be fair, it was an accident that she even found out about his fear at all. “I can’t believe my mother, she…” was not as important as a sobbing Carlos. Something dark curled in her stomach seeing one of them hurt, one of the people she considered a friend and actually treated her well in kind, and she felt her lip pull up in the corner. “Who did this?” 

“Slow your roll there miss blue,” Jay teased from his spot on the floor next to Carlos, having pulled the smaller boy against his chest to help calm him down. “He got attacked by a dog on his way back from class and Ben just barely grabbed it in time.” 

That stopped Jane’s anger in a second, confusion replacing it. “The only dogs allowed on campus are assistance animals and Dude,” she informed them and when she said the school mutt’s name, Carlos whimpered again. She sat down in front of them, careful to keep a safe distance. “Carlos, are you afraid of dogs?” When he didn’t even try to dissuade her, she nodded. “Okay. I don’t quite understand why, because I’ve only ever had good experiences with them and even had one when I was younger, but I’ll make sure Dude stays away from you for the time being. Okay?” 

Carlos nodded into Jay’s chest, trying to take deep breaths to calm himself. “Mom used to tell me horror stories about dogs, how they had ripped out the throat of one of her suppliers and he was unable to even scream for help. She told me that if I didn’t do what she said…” 

“It’s okay,” Mal interrupted him from continuing on, probably so that he wouldn’t work himself up again. A small part of Jane was worried that she was wrong in that. “Just make sure that mutt stays away from him, okay?” 

Jane hummed her agreement before leaving them alone, her anger at her mother resurfacing as soon as she had time to remember what had happened. Her mom had finally seen the piercings, her new hair, and went off on a lecture about how there were certain things Jane needed to understand. Like how piercings were a body mutilation and were gateways to worse things, like tattoos or plastic surgery. Her mom was being ridiculous and blowing things out of proportion, but she had more important things to worry about. She made her way to the library hoping they still had that book on the evolution of dogs. 

Instead of finding the book, she found Ben instead. “Jane!” He looked surprised to see her but that quickly switched to a smile. “I was looking for you actually, I owe you an apology.” Jane raised an eyebrow at him wondering if this was about what she thought it was. “I should have trusted you to be able to handle yourself, and I shouldn’t have judged the VK’s so harshly. I saw Lonnie sword fighting with them and then I noticed Jay teaching you some defensive moves…” He sighed. “I thought they deserved a chance but I never considered that they were good.” 

“Oh, don’t mistake that for them being good.” Ben’s mouth fell open in an ‘o’ shape, but Jane continued on before he could protest. “I think they’re a product of their environment. They like to pull pranks, were leather clothes, and are much more aggressive than anyone here. They aren’t evil, but they’re bad. They’ll pull pranks, punch anyone who pisses them off, and swear if they think they won’t get in trouble for it. You don’t need to change them so they have a place here, Ben,” she whispered softly. “Just make sure they know there are rules, they’re safe, and they aren’t going to be sent back for a mistake.” 

“They think we’ll send them back?!” Ben was starting to panic, but it wasn’t her job to calm him down from this. He had to understand how delicate the situation was on both sides so he could shore them up. 

“Maybe if you actually talked to them you’d know stuff like this. For someone who wants to accept them, you’re kind of avoiding interaction.” Of course she’d seen Ben try to talk Mal into Art classes and the three on the tourney team saw him at practice, but he wasn’t making any other efforts. “Now if you’ll excuse me,” Jane said while moving around him, her eyes trying to find the right sign, “I have a book to check out.” 

Carlos looked at her strangely when she marched into his dorm room and plopped a bunch of books down on his table. “What are you doing? I thought we had already gotten all of our textbooks from your mother.” 

“You did,” she agreed, “but these aren’t for classes.” Jane handed him one off the top of the pile. She had found a bunch of books on dogs but there were only a few without pictures. She planned to start out with those because she had no idea what exactly would set him off. “These books are full of information about dogs so that if you’re scared of them, at least you’ll understand them. There’s a book on canine body language in there somewhere so you’ll know if one of them is trying to be a threat or just wants to play.” 

“Why are you doing this?” Carlos questioned her, not daring to look up from the book next to him on his bed. “You’re closer with the others and the only one you’re actually allied with is Mal, which to be fair sort of makes you allied with us too but still.” 

Jane grabbed a chair and sat down, resting her chin on her arms. “Because I know what it’s like to be afraid of things that other people aren’t, and it sucks. You get made fun of for it all the time and no one else really understands. I’ve gotten over a few fears myself by research and I figured it might help you, or at least make you more prepared to deal with it.” 

He seemed to relax after that, so he let her hang out in the room while he went over everything that she brought. “Dogs came from wolves?” Jane hummed affirmatively, not even looking up from her homework. He would ask her random questions like that each time he got to something he didn’t understand, things she would have thought common knowledge. It was an hour later that she had to pick up and leave, but she left him with some of the picture books she had checked out and a list of videos he could watch when he was ready. 

Jay caught her as she was leaving, his eyes glancing at the door to make sure it was shut. “I appreciate what you’re doing trying to help him, but this runs deeper than just some stupid fear of dogs. If you push him too quickly to get over it, you might break him.” His eyes hardened into a glare. “And if he breaks, I break you.” 

“I’m not stupid,” she replied sarcastically in hopes that her fear wouldn’t slip through. 

It was a few days later that she heard a knock on her door that turned out to be Carlos, nervously playing with the tail attached to his shorts. “I think I’m ready to meet one. Not a big one like a Dalmation,” he said with a shiver. “A little one. Maybe that mutt that chased me?” 

“If you think you’re ready,” Jane agreed. She got him settled in her room before heading down the hall to Lin Li’s room because Dude had unceremoniously declared it his favorite napping spot, most likely because her clothes never seemed to be rid of her pets hair. “Can I borrow Dude?” 

Lin Li didn’t even look up from the magazine she was reading, just held a thumbs up. “You’re good, he’s been getting a bit bored with me lately. I think he needs more friends.” She pointed out the leash hanging on Audrey’s chair. 

“I’m sure it’s just because he doesn’t like your roommate,” Jane assured her as she got Dude ready. “I don’t blame him if that’s the case, Audrey used to be really sweet before her Grandmother moved in with her family and started drilling all of that bullshit into her head.” She heard Lin Li hum in agreement. Jane carried Dude over to her room, opening the door as slowly as possible so Carlos wouldn’t freak out. “I have him, you good where you are?” When there was no movement, she finally made her way into the room and closed the door behind her. “ “He won’t go near you, he’s going to play with me for a little bit so you can watch.” 

Carlos nodded from his perch on her bed, his knees tucked under his chin in a defensive way, like he was trying to protect as much of himself as he could. “He’s not going to hurt you, right?” She felt touched that he worried about her safety, but his words just reminded her how badly this could go. 

“No, I promise he won’t hurt me. And he’s on a leash so he can’t get to you.” Jane patted her legs to get Dude’s attention, giggling as he reached up to lick her face. “Dorky dog,” she teased, scratching behind his ears as he panted excitedly. 

Carlos watched them curiously. “You know, he doesn’t seem all that different from my cat back home.” Dude tilted his head as he drooled on the carpet, and Carlos made a face. “Okay, I see the difference. Dogs are messier.” 

Jane laughed.


	7. Helmet Hair

“MY HAIR!” Audrey screeched in the hallway, drawing the attention of the entire floor to witness the disaster that sat atop her head. There were jagged layers of varying lengths, including part of it being buzzed down to her scalp, streaks of color that weren’t flattering like puke green, neon yellow, white and silver. “Who did this? No one could have gotten into my room without a key!” She was sobbing into her hands as some of the girls tried to comfort her, some smothering laughter behind their hands and pitying expressions. “I don’t understand.” 

“I’m sure we can fix it,” Jane assured her with a comforting smile, though she was truly appreciative of the princess’ new look. “If only my mother was here, she could do a little magic and…” She realized her mistake when Audrey’s head snapped up, glaring down the hallway. 

Mal and Evie had stepped out of their room to figure out why there was so much screaming, and Audrey’s eyes had landed directly on her. “YOU! You must have done something, a spell or something to get into my room…” Her eyes widened as she seemed to realize something, glaring at Mal with a sneer. “Or did you just curse me?” Some of the girls in the hallway gasped, most of them never having seen magic before, let alone a curse. 

“What is going on here?!” Fairy Godmother cried as she tried to get through the mass of girls, freezing in place when she saw what happened to Audrey. “Oh dear, you poor thing, let me fix that for you.” With a quick wish and a wave of her hand, Fairy Godmother’s magic washed over Audrey and returned her hair to normal. “Do you know what happened dear?” 

Audrey started to sob again, so one of her friends piped up. “Mal must’ve done it, no one else could have gotten into her room! Plus, Mal hates Audrey because of their mom’s so it would make sense!” 

Fairy Godmother frowned as she shifted her gaze to the accused. “I don’t like quick judgments, but I do have to say it looks bad for you young lady.” As much as Fairy Godmother tried to look impartial, Mal was shaking in frustration from her bias. “I’m afraid that the punishment will have to fit the crime, as you took away something that Audrey cares about, I’ll have to do the same to you. You are suspended from Tourney until further notice, or until you make amends for your mistakes. I will have to inform Coach and Ben of this, they’ll need the _honest_ ,” she emphasized, looking around at the girls in the hall, “story.” 

“But Fairy Godmother, I don’t think it was Mal!” Lin Li cried as she burst out of the room she was sharing with the apparent victim. “I found cut hair and some dye in the bathroom this morning, Audrey must have done it to herself to make Mal look bad or get someone in trouble.” 

When all eyes turned to Audrey, she wiped away her tears and looked at Fairy Godmother apologetically. “I didn’t realize it would be this bad, I’m sorry. I did do it to myself, I’m just so scared for Ben because of the game coming up and him playing with the Villian Kids, he might get hurt and I wanted to protect him! If she was pulled from the game, maybe he’d be okay…” She started crying again and some of the girls rolled their eyes as they realized just how false they were. 

“I understand dear, change is a hard thing. I’m sure you didn’t mean anything by it and I appreciate your remorse, I think we can let it slide for now.” Fairy Godmother comforted her with a hug while Mal was ignored, even though she was the one who was falsely accused. “Here, a little magic will fix it,” she whispered as Audrey’s hair returned to normal. 

“Does this mean that I get one of my best players back?” Ben asked from his place next to Jane, who had gone to get him so he might fix the situation. “Don’t worry Audrey, Mal and I make a good team.” He grinned cheekily while both his girlfriend and the headmistress looked annoyed by his input in the situation. 

It seemed as if the tensions had been eased, but the VK’s were still looking out for another attack from Audrey. So when she finally decided to teach Evie the routines for the cheer squad, Lin Li went with her for back up. 

“Whatever, Lonnie,” Audrey huffed out with a sigh. “Just don’t distract us, this routine is important since we’re going to be showcasing at half-time during the next game. I know you’re a villain, but nothing is screwing this up for me and my squad.” If it was anyone else watching, they would think that Audrey had finally given in to the fact that Evie was going to be doing the showcase with the squad, but it was quickly evident to Lin Li that the princess had other ideas. 

The choreography was full of gymnastic moves that an inexperienced person would most likely hurt themselves trying to accomplish. Evie was _not_ inexperienced. She did a layout flip perfectly in time to the music and landed with her toes pointed, hands on her hips. “How was that?” 

“Acceptable. Now we just need you to make it perfect and we’ll be ready!” As soon as she said that, Lin Li realized the plan. Audrey wasn’t stupid enough to think she could get away with teaching Evie the wrong routine, so she was doing something much worse. “Remember that you need to match the steps to the words you want to punctuate, that’s the most important part of this.” They practiced like that from lunch until dinner, both girls sweating and exhausted by the end of it. Somehow, they were both still dazzlingly beautiful. “Go have dinner, but don’t fill up too much. I don’t care for bloated cheerleaders.” 

Lin Li glared at her, wrapping a protective arm around Evie as they headed to the cafeteria. “Ignore her, she’s such a bitch when she doesn’t get what she wants,” she muttered as they looked around for the rest of their friends. “You know, she’s trying to sabotage you.” 

“Of course she is.” Evie rolled her eyes but didn’t seem all that surprised. “The thing I don’t understand is how she’s going to do it, that routine was actually really good and seemed on par with what they’ve been doing for other games.” 

“I wasn’t talking about the routine. That’s the one they _always_ do for the showcase ever since the first game happened. They change the song every year though, and the one she had you learning was last years.” It was a nice play on Audrey’s part, because she could just say she screwed up the songs but taught her the right moves. “She wants you to freak out when you hear the music playing, then miss some of the important steps.” 

Evie’s eyes flared with dark flames but she kept her calm otherwise, sitting delicately in her chair while she twirled an apple around her fingers. “Do you know the new song they’re doing this year?” Of course Lin Li didn’t, but Jane was the school mascot and probably did. “Perfect, now all we have to do is…” 

“Are you planning something?” Doug asked as he sat down as close to Evie as he could manage, giving her a lopsided grin, looking ever the lovesick puppy. “Like how to get Chad back for making you do all of his homework?” 

“You’re still doing all of Chad’s homework? I thought after your talk with Jane...” Lin Li growled lowly in her throat when she noticed that Evie was shifting closer to her ever so slightly. “Okay, that’s not important right now because I have another jerk to deal with.” She hugged Evie goodbye before grabbing Doug by the ear and dragging him out into the hallway. She had seen the way that Evie reacted to him, and she had seen that look enough times to know what it meant. She didn’t expect to see it because of one of her friends. She shoved him into a locker and glared. “What do you think you’re doing?” 

Doug got shoved into the lockers all the time by the racist jerks who didn’t think he should be allowed out of the mines, so she should have expected his anger. “What do you think _you’re_ doing? I thought we were friends.” 

She raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. “We are friends, which is why I’m telling you right now to stay away from Evie.” She relaxed when he looked too shocked to respond, at least now she’d be able to get a word in. “Look, I know you don’t mean to but you make her uncomfortable. She flinches away from you as much as she does other guys, which is why I reacted like I did.” Though she hadn’t suffered at the hands of anyone, Lin Li had seen almost every girl on campus switch from bright and cheery to hanging their head in hallways not to get noticed, only the princesses were safe. Well, except from their boyfriends. “You only saw her for her beauty, Doug. You look at her the way the Tourney team looks at Audrey,” she told him, knowing full well the princess had only ever kissed Ben. “Prove you’re better than that and you two can be friends, maybe even date if that’s what she wants. But just because you’re the ‘nice guy’ compared to Chad doesn’t mean a damn thing.” 

“I…” He completely deflated when he realized she was right, and that was why the two of them were friends. When he made a mistake, Doug took the criticism and changed instead of getting mad and throwing insults. “Okay, maybe I could ask her for help on that Chemistry assignment we just got? She’s really good at it.” 

Lin Li nodded approvingly, even though he didn’t need it. “That’s a good place to start... _after_ you apologize.”


	8. Standing Up

The locker room before the start of the game was tense to say the least. As much as the guys had grudgingly agreed to letting Mal practice with them, it was increasingly clear that there were those who weren’t happy to see her wearing the uniform on a game day.  _ Well, they can suck it up. They’re outnumbered. _

Jay hadn’t actually sat down and talked with them yet, but Aziz and Emir were some of the few people who didn’t seem to care that the VK’s were in Auradon. They’d even passed the ball to her a few times during practice. On the other hand, after Li and Akio were hesitant about them, Lin Li whipped them into shape very quickly. Both boys were older than her and seniors, but they quickly apologized and accepted the three of them onto the team. 

Not so happy was Chad, who had bullied the twins into agreeing with him even if they hadn’t seemed to care before. They were only freshmen, so they couldn’t have done much anyway. “Why is she here? We’re playing against the Sherwood Forest Falcons, we can’t lose this game!” For the son of Cinderella, he really was an ass. He even glared at Miguel and Tyrone until they agreed. 

Before Jay could punch him, Ben was standing next to her and got in between them. “That’s enough, Chad. Mal is as much our teammate as anyone else in this room, and if you can’t act like it than coach and I have agreed you’ll be benched.  _ Indefinitely. _ ” His look softened when he caught sight of the twins, but he didn’t try to assure them. “We are the Fighting Knights! We fight for each other, we fight to have a good game, and if that means utterly destroying Sherwood Forest in the process, well…” The grin Ben wore was almost beastly and it sent something warm down Mal’s spine. “...all the more fun. Who’s with me?” 

Mal had just enough time to cover her ears before they all started shouting, but the smile on her face was real. She let Jay and Carlos wrap an arm each over her shoulders as they charged onto the field, the adrenaline already pumping through their veins. 

Coach was waiting for them when they got to the field, waiting for their starting line up. “Left forward, Ben!” A cheer came from the crowd as he threw on his helmet and ran out to take his place on the field. The announcer repeated the lineup for the crowd, spewing commentary like he got paid by the word. “Center forward, Jay! Right forward, Chad! Left defender, Aziz! Right defender, Akio! Goalie, Li Shang Jr! Go, go, go!” 

“And it’s time for Sherwood to take the field with their starters! I’m sure you all remember these boys, they’ve been the starting line up for three years now! This is their last, and it looks like it’s going to be their best!” The announcer continued to call out the players, finally shutting up to give Brendan enough time to get in position at the Dragon Cannon. 

“GO JAY!” she heard Evie scream from the stands, clearly getting into the hype of being in the crowd. She was standing with Lin Li and a girl Mal didn’t know, but easily recognized. Jordan, the daughter of the famous Genie. 

Mal didn’t have too much time to think about that before the whistle blew and the game began. From then on out it was a madhouse with players getting hit, the ball moving too fast to see, and plenty of use of the Dragon Cannon. Chad called for water part way through the first half, so Coach asked who wanted a few minutes in the game. Miguel’s hand shot up almost immediately. He looked at her and Carlos nervously, whispering, “this way you’ll get longer playing time and I get a chance.” 

Carlos ruffled his hair like he used to do with the younger isle kids, sending him off with a thumbs up. “Better him than me, he might actually have fun.” He cheered with her when he got a good pass from Aziz and got it to Ben in enough time not to be in too much danger. 

At least, it would have been if the Sherwood team was playing fair. Mal’s eyes caught the movement of one of the forwards before anyone else noticed, her eyes widening. “JAY!” she screamed, hoping he would realize what was happening. 

She soon realized she didn’t need to warn him as he was already barreling over to the younger kid, full body slamming the Sherwood defender right before he got to Miguel. She let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding as Jay checked on him and the whistle blew. Jay walked him off the field without a word while Coach sent in Emir and Chad to replace them. “You okay, sons?” he asked nervously, trying to search them for any injuries. 

Miguel looked like he was about to start crying while Jay was suddenly surrounded by a red aura, something Mal immediately realized no one could see. “Of course they’re okay, because Jay got there in time,” she said, purposefully looking Jay in the eyes the whole time. “No one important got hurt, you did good Jay.” 

He collapsed into her open arms in a sign of vulnerability that they didn’t usually allow in public, maneuvering so it looked like she was helping him stand. “Thanks Mal,” he teased nonchalantly, as if he wasn’t about to lose control of himself. Of his magic. “That player shouldn’t have charged you like that,” he turned to Miguel. “But apparently this team is a family, and I protect my family no matter what. I never would have let him touch you.” 

The twins nodded in sync before relaxing into the bench. It wouldn’t be until the end of the game that she would realize she was the only sub left, when it was too late for her to say no to being put in for the last five minutes.  _ You can do this, you wanted this. _

“Ben, can I talk to you for a moment?” Evie was nervous to say the least. Confronting one of the other kids at school was easy because they shared the same status at school, they were in line for the throne of another kingdom, and there were some kids who weren’t as high statused as her. Not that she looked down on them for it, but there was a pecking order at school, one that put Evie at the top. But Ben, he was in line for  _ the _ throne. His parents ruled the very kingdom she was going to school in. He wasn’t just the top of the pecking order, he could control it if he wanted to. 

Though it was very obvious her fears were misplaced, talking to Ben was still terrifying. “Of course. Let’s go into the shade, it’s getting pretty hot today.” He held out his arm to guide her and walked them over to a tree that thankfully had a bench underneath it, laying out his jacket for her to sit on. “What can I help you with?” 

She took a deep breath to steel herself. “Prince Benjamin,” he straightened when he heard the formal tone in her voice, “you asked Mal, Carlos, Jay, and myself here to represent the Isle and it’s children. I believe we have so far proven ourselves to be adaptable to change, welcoming of your rules and traditions as well as good friends to yourself.” 

“You have, Princess Evie.” He seemed to relax as the conversation eased into more enjoyable topics. This was formal because she wanted to show respect, not because she was offended by any of his previous actions or any other offenses he might have believed there to be. 

“Then I do hope you will consider bringing  _ more _ Isle children within the coming months.” Evie dropped the act and bent her head, unable to look at him as she pictured the faces she saw when they were hustled into the limo. Jealousy, anger. “No one wants to be on the Isle, no matter their reasoning. Some feel overlooked and angry that you didn’t choose them. No one knows if you’re going to just forget about them now, or what’s going on. You haven’t really talked about it since your first proclamation.” 

“So all they see is the media’s discussions on it.” Ben nodded his understanding and held out his hand in offering. When she slid their palms together, he grasped her hand. “I swear on my honor as a Prince and soon to be king, I will make an announcement. I can not guarantee that it will be kids’ names, but it will at least recognize that there is always room for more children to come over.” 

Evie thanked him profusely after that, but was still surprised that the next day there was to be an assembly where Prince Ben would speak. She was amazed at all the cameras and the press coverage in the front few rows, silently wondering if her mother would be able to see this. He had asked the four of them if they were willing to be on stage but they politely declined, stating that the attention should be on the other children. Evie, on the other hand, dressed herself in her Auradon best and agreed to sit in the background as the representative due to the fact that she was the least controversial to both lands. 

“Hello, thank you all for coming. I asked you all here today to talk about the four teenagers I asked to join us here at Auradon Prep from the Isle. Mal, daughter of Maleficent. Carlos, son of Cruella DeVil. Jay, son of Jafar. And Evie, daughter of Queen Grimhilde.” He let the murmurs die down, holding strong as he turned back to look at Evie. “Evie, who has kindly agreed to stand with me here today, is one of our top students at school. She participates in cheerleading and works hard in all of her classes, she represents the example we hope to set. Her friends all had a rougher start due to their desire to join the tourney team, though they had never played before. Especially Mal, who is now the first girl to join the team in school history. We just had our first game and despite some hiccups, all three of them were great players and part of the reason we won.” 

There was some clapping from the crowd at the mention of their win, always excited to show off for the other kingdoms. The boys from the tourney team stood up and starting bowing, grinning at the cameras and blowing kisses. 

Ben simply had to clear his throat for everyone to go silent and for the attention to be back on him. “Due to the increasing success of their integration into Auradon, I can proudly say that this program will continue. I am extremely proud of them and as long as they remain a good example, I will have another group brought over from the Isle after my coronation next week. This one may be larger as I intend to bring over a group of younger children on top of a group of four that would be of age for Auradon Prep. Thank you so much for your time.” He walked off the stage to the sound of a thousand questions, but only paused to hold out a hand for Evie so he could help her down the steps.


	9. Island Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a short mention of teen pregnancy at the end of this chapter, as well as a hint to rape. It's three sentences at the very end, but if you're uncomfortable with either or both I would suggest you stop reading when Ginny is giving out orders.

Tracking down the Sea Three was easy enough, there were only so many places that they were able to be off their ship. Mal’s territory only left them the outermost reaches of the Isle and even with her gone, she still had enough control over everyone to make the wharf rats follow her law. The Gaston kids understood power, and all but three had declared their full allegiance to Mal, because the twins needed to stay in their father’s good graces to protect the younger ones and Gil was one of Uma’s. Most of the other kids living in the city followed Mal too, but some of them defected to Uma’s side every once in a while. Once you turned thirteen though, there were no changing sides. 

Freddie was one of the few who were truly neutral, along with her younger sister, the hun children, and Hadrian. She had free roam over the entire Isle as long as she kept her nose out of the gang’s business and wasn’t caught for anything else. One of the things she couldn’t be caught for was using her magic, as she was at that very moment to keep to the shadows. 

The reason for her discretion was throwing knives into a poster of Mal’s face. “That insufferable _faerie_ is going to do everything in her power to keep us from getting off this shithole,” Uma growled out as her knife found itself poking out of a drawn nose. “Evie is reasonable and has actual emotions besides pride, do you think she’ll get us off of here if she gets the chance?” That surprised Freddie, but she had heard a rumor that the two were close due to Maleficent's banishment of Evie and her mother when she was young. “She owes me for hiding Dizzy when her grandmother found out about her side jobs.” 

“Ay coorse she will, 'at lassie isnae stewpid enaw tae withhauld oan a debt,” Harry assured her, even going as far to let more of his accent slip through so she would smile. “eh'd e'en bit 'at we shoods be preparin' uir crew fur uir suin departure…”

A hum of agreement came from right below where Freddie was hiding, her body tensing until she recognized the figure who moved from their spot leaning against the wall. “Evie is nice to me and she wouldn’t ask me to go without you two. She knows that would make me sad and she doesn’t like making her friends sad.” Gil didn’t seem to care that Harry was rolling his eyes at him, or he didn’t notice, because he only had eyes for Uma. 

“Thank you,” Freddie watched her soften slightly and turned away from their moment. Love was rare on the Isle and even when it was there, it was hidden beneath insults and aggression. There were no tender kisses to give them away, only possessive hickeys giving a clear warning _not to touch_ , so seeing affection so clearly given pulled on something in her chest. 

She gave up spying and slipped away into the night to go find something else to do, ignoring the way her eyes burned and pretended it was because of the ever present wind. 

On the other side of the Isle, far from the border, a meeting was taking place. Dizzy Tremaine was the unofficial leader of the third generation of VK’s, figuring out secrets spilled from parents lips as her grandmother worked on their hair. More than once, she had earned their respect by tipping them off to a potential danger. Maybe their mom was angry with them to the point of not talking about it, maybe their dad needed the other service that Lady Tremaine provided because he had knocked someone up. 

It just so happened that they had more important issues than the daily gossip pool. As soon as the announcement had been aired that the other Isle Inhabitants were not forgotten, a letter had arrived that was specifically given to Dizzy when she was alone. “I’m going to be one of the next transfers,” she exclaimed to the group. “They haven’t announced the older kids yet, but I have the list for the ones our age.” 

“Let me see!” Celia grabbed at the paper, moving quickly away from her best friend so that she could read it over. “The Smee twins,” who even as pirates attended meetings and suddenly had wide eyes, “Claudine Frollo,” the fourteen year old appeared to have no reaction but the corners of her mouth twitched upward, “Dizzy Tremaine, and…” she choked as she read the last name. It was possible that they had found out about him through one of the VK’s, but even with the tensions between gangs the secret was well kept. 

Ginny Gothel snatched the letter out of her hands. “Let me see.” Though of the first generation, she was privy to all of their meetings as she regularly took care of all of them. Her mother didn’t want her and had abandoned her to the streets so she started running a safehouse out of her apartment. None of them wanted to think about how she got Gaston to agree to keeping their secret, but they were grateful for it nonetheless. 

In her panic, Celia realized that the room had gone completely silent. Ginny must have told them while she wasn’t paying attention. “There’s no way that any of them willingly handed over that information, they wouldn’t.” 

A murmur ran through the group as they all shared their agreement. Ginny might have been about to pass out, but she took a deep breath. “Someone get me the list, we’ll contact them and see if it was possible that the driver saw them when he came to pick up the others. Smees, Dizzy, and Claudine, go get your stuff in order. I don’t want you to be a part of this incase it jeopardizes your chances. Evie can only do so much,” she reminded them. 

Celia took the list from one of the Gaston boys and scanned it over. “None of the Queenies are on here and they’d be the most likely to be out in public. Mad Maddie might be, well, mad, but she’s not stupid.” 

Ginny sighed as she pinned up both the letter and the list, her eyes scanning over both. The latter of which was small, it was rare that the offender would let one of the girls carry a baby once they found out, but there were some. “We can’t rule anyone out.”

“Not even you?” Celia asked, watching as Ginny put a hand on her growing belly. 

“Not even me.”


	10. Romance in the Air

Audrey had always been his best friend throughout everything. Sure, she could be abrasive and snarky, but that was mostly because she was putting on a face. Or, at least, he thought she was. She’d come out to him when they were ten, which was when her grandmother overheard and lost it on the two of them. She had refused to let Ben come over again until she gave up on being a lesbian, which was when she started lashing out. 

Maybe that was why she was so against the villain kids being brought over, because they were being freed and she didn’t think she ever would be. Maybe she honestly believed they were evil. Either way, she blew up on him the minute they were alone together. 

“WHAT WAS THAT? You just went on camera saying that you were going to bring over  _ more _ of them and that they were doing  _ good _ . How are you so blind to what they’re doing here?” She was screeching as she paced his bedroom, one of the few people allowed inside without supervision since Fairy Godmother “trusted” them. “They’re acting good because the more kids you bring over, the more power they have. Once enough of them are here, they’ll take over all of Auradon and we’ll be forced to live as their slaves or something! I am not going to be like Cinderella, I refuse to clean for other people!” 

Ben stared at her in amazement, unsure of how to even begin to tell her what was wrong with that. “Audrey, they’re our age and they grew up on a pile of trash, with villains for parents! Cruella,” he rolled his eyes when she flinched, “terrified Carlos and told him that if he did anything she didn’t like, she’d release hounds on him.” 

She scoffed. “Of course he’d tell you that, that way you’d feel bad for him and wouldn’t worry about dogs around him because he acts like he’s scared of them. And even if it was true, the others were raised by sane people. Let’s say he’s not as bad as his mom, he’s not crazy, what about the others?” 

“WHAT ABOUT THEM?” He didn’t normally yell, but he was so frustrated with everyone telling him that he was making a huge mistake and that he was going to be the one who destroyed all their parents had worked for. He shook his head when she took a step back, keeping the roar in his voice to a minimum. “What about the others? In fact, what about Carlos? Why are you focusing on the four of them instead of the bigger picture where our parents left kids just like us on a pile of steaming  _ shit _ and let  _ villains _ raise them! Why didn’t they use magic to prevent kids? Why didn’t they take them away from their parents so they could be raised here? Why am I the only one who seems to think that maybe they are human beings out there who didn’t have a choice in who they were born to?” 

Audrey turned an interesting shade of purple as she puffed out her cheeks and for a moment he thought she was going to try and pull the “hold her breath until she passes out” trick. “MAL ISN’T HUMAN! WHY CAN’T YOU SEE THAT SHE’S JUST USING YOU TO HURT ME BECAUSE SHE THINKS I ACTUALLY LOVE YOU?” 

“I thought you did, even if it was just as friends,” he whispered while she brushed him off. “Audrey, get out of my room. Get out of my life, we’re done. We’re done putting on this fake dating scheme, we’re done being friends, and I am  _ done _ putting up with how cruel you are. If anyone is bad, it's you.” He wished he could take back that last part as soon as it came out, but it was too late. 

Audrey raised an eyebrow at him like he couldn’t see her falling apart. “You might be right, but at least I can accept who I am and don’t hold onto my parents shit. I can move on and become my own person, the person  _ I  _ want to be. I can’t say the same for you, or your precious  _ VKs _ .” 

Mal found him on the roof an hour later and didn’t even ask why he was up there. He didn’t ask her either, but breaking the rules was almost expected of her and he was the one who supposedly made them. “The whole school knows that you and Audrey broke up, she announced that she was finally free from you and kissed Chad in the cafeteria.” 

“Of course she did, because she needs everyone else to be the bad guy,” he snarled and felt her start laughing next to him. “I know she actually does that to you, I just thought she was my best friend and I could talk some sense into her.”

“If she can’t support you or even trust you to make the right decision for  _ your _ kingdom, she’s not worth fighting for. As a best friend,” she said pointedly, letting him realize she caught his word choice, “or as a girlfriend. We don’t exactly date on the isle, but even I can see that.” 

He chuckled lowly and leaned back so he was staring at the sky. “You know, as much as I want to help you all, I know basically nothing about the isle. I know you get sent our trash, that all of the major villains are there, that there’s medical clinics every other month…” He frowned and went onto his elbows when she laughed. “What?”

“You really do know nothing. There hasn’t been a medical clinic since the first year of its creation, they didn’t want there to be a risk of anyone escaping. And there aren’t just magor villains, there’s everyone from pick-pockets to minor villains, goons who were just doing what they were told...there’s a lot that the adults try to keep hidden.” 

“Then tell me everything,” Ben pleaded gently, looking up at her with worry tightening in his stomach. “I’m supposed to be a leader and I can’t do my job without knowing exactly what I’m walking into, and if you’re willing to talk about it...if you  _ want _ to talk about it with someone, I’m here.” He went back to laying down to give her time to think, surprised when he felt her fingers brush over his palm like she was thinking about holding his hand. 

Mal sighed. “You literally are here, aren’t you?” She laid down next to him and pointed up at the clouds, green smoke trailing from her fingers and dissipating in the sun. “We never saw white clouds, it was always gray…” she started. 

They found themselves out on the roof right before dinner every day for the rest of the week. On Thursday she actually held his hand, on Sunday she let their arms touch fully instead of sitting apart. On Tuesday, exactly a week since they had started sitting out there on the roof, he built up his courage and asked her to the coronation. “You don’t have to date me if you don’t want to, but I’ve liked getting to know you and I hope you’ll want to keep doing this type of thing.” 

She looked at him for a few moments like she was trying to figure out his motive, so he made himself as open as possible. Finally she smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that. Both being your date and also...the dating part.” 

“What do you think dating is? That way I know what you’re expecting and can tell you if there’s anything different.” They’d talked about some of the aspects from the isle and he hoped she knew he wasn’t expecting anything physical from her. 

“Audrey was something shiny to show your parents and say, ‘I’m being social!’. With us, it would be more of an exchange. You’re giving my people a chance at a better life and this is like a thank you, while I give you information to further your political ideas. And then besides that, we just act like friends like we have been and stick a different label on it with some more physical affection involved.” 

Ben weighed what she said in his head and found that the part about his ex-girlfriend was in fact true. On the other hand, he didn’t want their relationship to be a transaction while also knowing that Mal wouldn’t understand it any other way. “That’s basically what it is, but just know that you don’t have to keep dating me to make sure the other kids come over. I enjoy your company even if it's just as friends. And you don’t have to kiss me or anything if you don’t want to!” 

Mal tilted her head like she was confused by that idea, but she didn’t question it. “Should we go on an actual date then?” He just grinned at her and for some reason, she let him take her hand and help her down from the roof. 

She was scared, to say the least. Ben had told her what he was expecting from this and even though she didn’t quite believe him, she accepted that he didn't expect her to kiss him on the first date. But that wasn’t the part that scared her. “I can’t believe you got Ben, that was brilliant Mal. You’ll be in the perfect spot to snatch the wand at the coronation!” Carlos was watching Evie work her magic with boredom, but he was at least excited about figuring out the plan. 

Evie on the other hand knew the truth. When Mal had asked her for help on the date and for the coronation, she’d explained what she learned from Doug and had completely forgotten about until then. They’d decided to keep it from the boys in case something went wrong. “If you won’t be quiet while I’m trying to work, get out of our room,” Evie threatened as she waved a brush at Carlos. When she was satisfied that he wouldn’t bother them anymore, she went back to making the finishing touches. She’d gotten Mal into a pair of black leather pants with old newspaper print covering the thighs, a mauve purple corset top, one of her green jackets, and heeled boots with gold spikes. Makeup was the last step. “You look amazing, though I’m still disappointed you didn’t want to wear the dress I picked out…” 

“Not a dress kind of girl, E,” Mal pointed out before heading to the door. She took a deep breath as she pulled it open, putting on a smile when she realized Ben was waiting for her. “Hey, you’re early.” She flinched at the slip. 

Ben’s smile was almost blinding, but he blushed lightly when he looked at her. “You look absolutely gorgeous, and I’m glad you decided not to wear a dress. We’re going for a ride and your legs might have gotten cold…” 


	11. Parental Supervision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is relatively short, but that's because the next one is going to be one of the longer parts to this story. Family day goes about as well as you expect, but with a few details you aren't prepared for. I'll even add in a preview after this.

They knew something was different before they even walked in the door. Mal could feel the excitement coming through because of Fairy Godmother’s magic that warped its way around the room, stagnant from years of being ignored. She’d always known it was there, but it was moments like this that made her take notice. 

“What’s going on?” Evie asked in a rush, nervously straightening her dress even though she didn’t need to. She struggled with surprises and change, especially because they were just starting to figure things out in Auradon. They knew that the screen was a tv, did they find footage of when they tried to steal the wand? 

The boys moved so they were between the girls and the screen, sitting on desks so it wouldn’t look as if that was their intention. Fairy Godmother didn’t seem to care and continued with her bright attitude. “We have a special treat for you four today! Family weekend is coming up, it's a time for students to see their families again and to show off projects, there’s a tourney game...but we understand that due to, ah, distance?” she suggested to their blank faces. “You’re parents can’t be here, so we set this up!” 

The second her mom came on screen, Mal felt her throat tighten as she saw the strain in her eyes from having to deal with the Isle by herself. Without Mal running her crew as foot soldiers, her control was harder to maintain. “MAL! Have you talked to Beastie yet? I know I told you to get her a present, have you found something nice?” Her mother was trying to smile, but it was more like she was baring her teeth for show. “You have good news for us, I hope.” 

“Sorry, Mother, but I haven’t had a chance to. I tried with her daughter, but she’s more like her grandfather than Aurora.” Mal snarled and her mother mirrored it. “But I might see her during family weekend, or even during Ben’s coronation. Everyone is going to be there, Fairy Godmother is even going to because she blesses Ben with her wand.” 

While Maleficent seemed sated, Grimilhide shoved her way forward since the official business was done. “Evie, my darling, you look ever the princess I raised you to be. Have you found yourself someone to sit there and smile while you rule?” 

Her friend beamed at the snarky praise her mother gave. “I thought I had, but he proved himself worthless very quickly. Don’t worry though, I have plenty of offers to choose from and I feel like taking my time to sort through who would fit best.” 

“Just make sure their girlfriends get sent Jay’s way,” Jafar ordered with a fine layer of lightheartedness to cover it up. “Tell me you’ve lived up to your potential and actually taken some responsibility.” 

Mal glared at him as she grabbed Jay’s hand, making sure it was out of view. “He’s lead the Tourney team to victory every time they’ve played and the coach says he’s one of the best players he’s ever seen. He has the respect of all the boys who play, so much so that they even allowed me to join just because Jay said I had wha it took.” She saw the approval in her mother’s eyes and the hatred in Jafar’s as they started turning red, soley trained on his son. 

Before things could escalate any further, Cruella finally seemed to notice that her son was there too. “Carlos, have you been around a dog recently?” Her eyes fixated on the small strands of fur that clung to his clothes after he’d visited Dude that morning. “You made a promise to Mommy, boy, I want a new friend for Baby and it looks like…” 

“I’m not letting you touch my dog,” he snarled. “The only fur you’re ever going to get to work with is what’s in your closet and baby, who by the way, is stuffed!” Carlos looked dangerous for a second before realizing what he had done. Their other parents were laughing, but his mother looked like the next body she would be skinning was his. 

Jay turned the monitor off before anything else could go wrong. “Thanks for the treat,” he whispered to Fairy Godmother before wrapping an arm around Carlos and squeezing Mal’s hand to snap her out of her daze. The four of them left without another word, even as the older woman tried calling after them to apologize. They all just wanted to curl up in a room and hide away. 

Jane was waiting for them when they got to the hallway. She was smiling until she saw their faces, toning it down so she wouldn’t overwhelm them. “I’m so glad your parents can’t get off the isle, I would never want to meet them.” They all looked at her and it struck them that she was saying that as a reminder not for herself. “No offense. I’m glad you guys are here though, and I hope the other kids that move here are at least half as cool.”


	12. Family Day

Lin Li was practically dancing as she rushed towards her parents, hugging both of them tightly in the same hug. Family day was always one of her favorite times of the year, she’d already see her two older brothers go through the school and would put on her best warrior face when greeting them. “Mother, Father, it’s so good to see you. I wanted to introduce you to my new friends, the kids Ben helped bring over from the Isle.” 

“Neih hou, Li Shang. It is an honor to meet you,” Jay bowed as he greeted the man before him, moving next to greet her mother in a similar fashion. The rest of them gave almost the same greeting and got the same smile in return. 

Her mother didn’t hesitate to save hello to Dude, a wistful look on her face as she most likely remembered her own dog. “They’re such good friends, aren’t they? I had the honor of caring for a dog myself when I was younger, I was constantly amazed by how smart he was.” When Carlos looked hesitant, she continued. “I know who your birth mother is, but I trust Dude more than any perceived notions I might have had. Dogs are better judges of character than humans.” To give him some privacy when she realized how overwhelmed he suddenly was, Fa Mulan turned away from him and drew the attention to herself with a large smile. “I have to thank you girls for taking care of my daughter, she’s told me you’re quite the heroes. Helping Jane with her magic, getting a girl on the Tourney team, giving her this crazy new outfit...can you design MY clothes from now on?” 

As Evie sputtered under the praise, Lin Li looked down to appreciate her outfit again. It was a one strap dark pink tea dress with large flowers making their way up and the over skirt, Evie had even put her hair up in a top-knot. “I do look great, don’t I? You should see what Jane is wearing too, she looks awesome.” 

“Stop, blushing is bad for the skin.” Evie was fanning herself to get her cheeks to calm down but gave a small smile when everyone laughed. She quickly distracted them by pointing out the aforementioned girl. “Check them out.” 

Jay had left the group to sweep his new friend off her feet, twirling her around to the beat of the music. Jane was clearly torn between laughing and cursing her stumbling feet, beaming no matter what was coming out of her mouth. “I’m getting dizzy!” When she protested, Jay just slowed them down to sway softly together until the world stopped spinning. 

As her parents grinned at each other and the other isle kids joked about them, Lin Li looked around the rest of the courtyard. Every girl who had any remote interest in boys was staring longingly at the pair, snarling about how he must be getting something out of it because there was no way a girl could look like  _ that _ and get to dance with a guy like him. Lin Li knew that no matter what those girls said, Jane was having the time of her life and in fact, might just be enjoying it a little bit more because of how jealous everyone was. 

She was surprised when she found a hand extended to her by Evie, but she didn’t hesitate to take her up on her offer and move to join their friends on the dance floor. 

Mal watched from the shadows as Ben got pictures taken with his family, and she knew the exact moment he told them. She could see on their faces that they were relieved he was no longer with Audrey so she stepped out to join them, only to see shock when they realized she was the one who had gotten Ben’s heart instead. Their date had been amazing from the way she felt comfortable enough to tell him her middle name, to when she felt that rush of need when she realized she didn’t know where he was. It had scared her more to realize that she actually cared about him than when she couldn’t swim. 

“Hey beautiful, my parents want to meet you. Is that okay?” Ben brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, his eyes drifting to her forehead in question. When she nodded, he pressed the lightest of kisses to her forehead and she didn’t understand why he asked every time. She let him lead her over to his family, his hand tight in her own. “This is Mal, from the island.” He smiled at her reassuringly. “My girlfriend.” 

“It’s nice to meet you both,” she told them as honestly as she could, though she didn’t offer her hand. “I appreciate you allowing Ben to give us this chance; my friends and I hope to live up to the expectations he has for us.” 

While Belle relaxed instantly from the previous tension that came from realizing her son was dating the daughter of a villian. “It’s wonderful to meet you as well. And don’t worry about expectations, we just hope you’re happy here.” Mal couldn’t come up with a response to that, stunned that the Queen was so accepting of her. “I love your dress, it's beautiful.” 

“Princess Evie actually made it, one of Mal’s friends, and I’d like to think she’s one of mine as well. She’s chatting with Fa Mulan right now,” Ben excitedly shared. He waved to the designer who curtsied when she saw who they were standing with. “She designed and made all of their clothes, and did outfits for Jane and Lin Li as well.” 

Belle smiled again and slipped her hand into her husband’s easily, and to anyone else that would have been that. But Mal caught the subtle squeeze to get the Beastly King involved in the conversation as well, instead of just staring at Mal and Ben. “Wonderful, truly. We were actually going to have lunch soon…” He was trying to step away but a look from his wife made him switch tones, “so you should join us.   
  


“And invite your friends as well, I can’t wait to hear Princess Evie’s ideas about design and if she’s looking into starting her own shop.” Belle was positively beaming, clearly trying hard to look like she was ecstatic about this new development to make up for her husband's lack thereof. “Though I’m afraid I don't’ recognize your other two friends, you’ll have to introduce them.” 

King Beast got a look in his eyes as he turned to Ben with a fatherly smile that reminded Mal far too much of those of the adults back home. “Would you care for a game before lunch? It’ll give your mother and I some time to get to know your new friends without  _ food _ in the way, and we’ll be much too full afterwards to enjoy it.” Mal followed his gaze and saw Carlos enjoying the chocolate fountain, his fingers turned brown from the sweets. 

“I’ll go get them,” she informed with a much more confident smile. If he wanted to play this way, that’s what they were going to do. “I assume you mean croquet, my friends and I enjoyed plenty of games with Cora and Winter back home. The daughters of the Wonderland Queens?” She left the conversation at that and had to tamper the reflex to flip him off as Ben walked away with her. Seeing the surprise in his eyes, she whispered, “I’m terrible but Evie and Carlos are amazing at it. Most of the time Jay and I just cheer and place bets.” She didn’t mean to let that last part slip out, but Ben didn’t seem affected by the casual mention of gambling. 

Soon the King, Ben, and Jay were playing in one section while Carlos ran around with Dude, saying hi to Lin Li and her family again. Technically it was more Ben trying to teach Jay to play while Beast supervised, but that was neither here nor there. Evie was happily chatting with Belle about her fashion, while Mal just watched it all with a smile. 

“Hello, dear,” a woman said with a questioning smile. While Mal returned the greeting, she knew that whoever this was, they were only putting the niceties on for show. They circled behind her before asking quietly, “Have we met?” 

Mal bit her lip like she was trying to think, but really she was hoping someone would walk over and save her. “No, I don’t think so. I’m new here, kind of like a…” she tried to come up with a reasonable excuse, praying the woman bought it. “A transfer student.” 

“That would explain it. I hope you’ve enjoyed your time here, it must not have been very long if we haven’t met yet. A pretty girl like you, my granddaughter would have snatched you up into her friends and introduced us.” Mal relaxed, only for the woman to wave someone over. “There she is, hello Audrey dear.” 

“Grammy, I’m so glad you could come.” Mal stepped back as she realized how much danger she was suddenly in, her magic sparking in between her fingers as she wished one of her friends would notice. Finally Audrey seemed to realize who her grandmother was speaking to and stepped forward with a glare. “Grammy, I don’t think you want to be talking to this girl. Not unless you want to be put to sleep again, I’m sure she could whip you something up special.” 

Her grandmother turned to look at Mal in confusion and the anxiety building in her chest made her eyes flash green with the worst timing. “YOU!” she gasped, clutching her hand to her heart. “How did you escape, how are you so young?! You can’t fool me with that purple hair, Maleficent.” 

Ben was at her side in an instant with her friends not far behind, Evie’s hand slipping into her’s for support while the boys spread out for better defense. “Queen Leah, it's okay. Maleficent is still on the isle and can’t escape. This is her daughter Mal, who I personally invited here. I wanted to allow the children of the island to have a chance to live here, and be good. To show they are good.” 

Before Queen Leah could escalate things, Fair Godmother standing behind her, Jane and Lin Li rushed forward to Mal’s defense. “We weren’t sure either when he made it, but after meeting Mal we trust her. She’s our friend,” Jane said with a soft smile while Lin Li crossed her arms and nodded. 

“She’s manipulating you, can’t you see that? People like her don’t have friends, they have minions.” Chad said with a snide grin, glaring at Evie even though she wasn’t the original target. “I was almost one of them, but I was at least strong enough to see past it.” 

Queen Leah and Audrey were nodding their agreement with each word, the queen stepping forward to draw more attention. That was when Mal realized what this was, it wasn’t an accident that they had bumped into each other. “Yes, I remember them well. I remember the battles we had to fight, giving away my daughter to the fairies to raise her. I remember missing every part of my daughter's life because of the likes of you...” She burst into tears and turned to Fairy Godmother. 

Someone stepped away from the crowd with raised palms to show she wasn’t aggressive, except her eyes turned to Queen Leah when she spoke. “I understand that these children have parents that hurt you, in fact I know exactly how it feels.” She turned to someone in the crowd, a man with two Dalmatians sitting next to him.  _ Anita. _ “But they are just that, pups. They’ve done nothing wrong and we don’t have the right to judge them based on birth alone.” 

Chad huffed. “Calling them pups, you mean they’re  _ bitches _ ,” he whispered and he almost smiled when he saw Evie’s lip quiver. “More like gold digging cheaters who enjoy spreading pain, talk about doing something wrong. 

“You don’t get to talk about who’s done something wrong Chad, you leave the girls alone.” Jay’s eyes were flashing red and Mal had to shrug off Ben to reach out and get between them, not wanting this to go as far as it already had. 

While Carlos finally got them all to step away, Jane took their place and stepped up to Chad like she wasn’t terrified of him. “You think they’re bad, but look who’s talking, huh? Do your parents know that you tried to get Evie to do your homework because that was the only way you’d look at her? Do they know you’ve done that to almost every girl in school? Who tells Mal he wants to find out if her bite is worse than her bark?” Even Audrey was starting to look at Chad sideways, stepping away. “I won’t spill anyone’s secrets, but it's no coincidence that you immediately started dating Audrey right after the break up. I think it only took five minutes?” 

The VK’s couldn’t believe what was happening. Not only was Chad growing redder and redder until he almost turned purple, but someone was actually standing up for them in front of people. Not just giving silent support. Not just saying it when everything was calm. 

“In fact, who cut our hair in the first place?” Lin Li started. “Oh that’s right, you. Who fixed it? Mal. You’re a bully Chad, but the rest of them are our friends. If anyone is in the wrong, it's you.” She dodged the punch he threw her way and had him pinned on the ground in seconds. She turned to look at Mal and mouthed, “go.” 

Carlos had run the second that he got the girls out of the way of the fight. The second he knew that his mother’s heroes were there, he made sure everyone else was safe before running all the way to the edge of the woods. He curled up with Dude in his lap, rocking back and forth as his entire body shook from the force of the anxiety in his chest.

At some point it registered in his head that someone was whistling softly, just enough for him to realize they were close by. The whistling kept the same volume even as the person got closer, and finally Anita appeared on his right a few feet away. She kept her distance, but she appeared completely calm with the situation. After a few moments, she whispered, “you treat him so well, I’ve never seen him take to someone like this.”

“What do you want?” Carlos asked as he glared at her, sure she was going to try to take Dude away or get him sent back. He had heard what she’d said in front of the crowd, but usually people did things for a reason and he wasn’t sure what her’s was. 

“My name is Anita and I knew your mother,” she stated as if her earlier actions hadn’t revealed that already. “I do not expect you to be anything like her nor do I expect you to trust me. I just wanted you to know I was here. I want to get to know you, I’ve heard good things from Ben andI saw your tourney game. You were amazing, though I am partial to friends’ children.” He tilted his head at her and he could feel the irony of how much he looked like a dog doing it. “I’m not just here for that. But we all have our secrets, it takes trust to get us to share.” She stood slowly, never raising her hands or making sudden movements. “I hope I can prove myself to you, even if it takes years.”


	13. Friends at Face Value

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lines separate POV change

It was one thing to stand up to the adults when the only people arguing were Chad and a Queen no one really liked, but it was another to keep the same stance when even your own classmates started turning against you. Chad and Audrey had rallied some of the more traditional kids to their side like Doug’s cousins, Herkie the son of Hercules and Artie the son of King Arthur. At lunch the next day, they tried to get Jane and Lin Li. 

“Don’t you know she’s never going to last with Ben? You two act smart, but you’re on the wrong side of this...the bad side,” Audrey snarled as she looked directly at Mal. “Jane, didn’t your mother teach you better than this?” 

“She taught me better than to believe that my appearance is the only thing that matters in life and that putting other people down will make me feel good about myself, but yet when I was friends with you...all of that happened.” Jane didn’t even look upset, she spoke like they were having a normal conversation. That just seemed to piss Audrey off more and the VK’s were loving it. 

Seeing that clearly she had lost control over the wishing fae, the princess turned to Lin Li with a softer smile. “Girl, you’re my roommate. You know that I love you like a sister and I’m only trying to keep you safe. I’m worried about you.” When she was ignored, she stamped her foot. “Come on, Lonnie.” When the girl didn’t even move her head, Audrey raised an eyebrow. “Lonnie, come on. Come sit with me and the rest of our friends.” Still nothing. She huffed and tapped the girl’s shoulder, crossing her arms with a glare that was supposed to be intimidating. “I’m talking to you.” 

“Oh really,” she said, feigning surprise. “I’m so sorry, I guess I’m so used to hearing my  _ actual _ name that I didn’t notice!” Lin Li watched with complete satisfaction as the princess squeaked out a grunt and stormed away. “What’s wrong with her?” 

No response came from the VK’s as they stared at the two girls in front of them, only snapping out of it when Ben and Doug came to sit with them. Ben kissed Mal on the cheek lightly and whispered an apology for what had happened, looking upset. “You couldn’t have done anything different, we’re grateful for what you did. We’re grateful for what all of you did, we owe you a debt for defending us at the cost of your own friends.” 

Lin Li shrugged. “They weren’t really our friends, not like you four are. There’s no reason for you to feel a debt when we know you’d have done the same for us, we trust you.”  _ They trust us, and yet we’re going to turn them over to our parents at the end of the week. _

Monday brought the return of tourney practice and Mal was expecting backlash from the guys, so she showed up early to the locker rooms and was out before she would ever have to cross paths with any of them. With all of the field to work with and no one in sight, she grabbed her stick and one of the practice balls. The steady beat of the ball hitting her stick calmed her nerves and gave her something to focus on, something to think about besides all the questions that ran through her head on a daily basis. As she settled into what she was doing, she started adding in some moves from the Isle that were as much a part of her as her heartbeat.

She hit the ball in the air as high as she could in the air before closing her eyes and dodging as if she was in a fight or trying to get through the marketplace after being caught, moving her feet in sweeping movements while her arms stayed stuck her sides, her stick held in front of her as a way to block hands, before she heard the whistle of the ball dropping. It was too far behind her, so she flipped backwards and caught it in the cradle of her stick, before continuing. This time she kept her eyes open and completely focused on the goal at the end of the field, surprised when she stepped into the kill zone and something fired at her. Her eyes caught Jay’s signature beanie and she smirked, welcoming the new challenge. She allowed instinct to take over as she moved through the red and she didn’t breathe until her feet touched green grass. 

“Yeah Mal! Whoop!” For the second time, her head whipped around to see what was happening. Emir, Aziz, Li Shang Jr., and Aiko were standing on the side lines with grins on their faces and their practice gear on. 

She bowed slightly and found that her cheeks were heating up from more than just the exercise. The entire time she’d been a part of the team, it seemed as if they just didn’t care that she was there instead of caring one way or the other. Their approval was unexpected and confusing. “I didn’t realize you all were standing there, I might have shown off a little if I knew.” 

Jay shoved her lightly and tossed her some water. “It’s been a while since I saw you use those moves, I had to check and see if I could smell shrimp or if you were just goofing off.” The jab at Uma, even from across the barrier, made her feel better and more herself. 

“I don’t understand the reference, but I definitely need you to teach me some of those moves.” Emir was excited and for a second he reminded her of Carlos, always eager to learn something new. “That was so badass, the other teams would never be able defeat us if we played even a fraction of the way you do. Jay’s cool, but your moves…” 

“She’s going to think you’re trying to steal her from Ben if you keep talking like that,” one of the guys pointed out and the others laughed. When Emir started to pout, Aziz wrapped an arm around his shoulders and kissed him. “Forgive me?”

Mal could feel Jay tensing next to her and she subconsciously moved closer to the pair, her knuckles turning white from her grip on her tourney stick. “Why are you doing that in public? Are you trying to get the crap kicked out of you?” 

While the other guys just looked surprised, Aziz seemed to realize what was happening. “We’re not actually cousins! His dad was friends with Cassim, no relation.” When she just stared at him, it finally hit all of them that that wasn’t the part they were worried about. “Being openly gay is okay here in Auradon. You can kiss whoever you want, as long as they consent first.” 

“What?” Mal choked out as she looked at the other guys who seemed to be in agreement. “First of all, you’d get beaten up just for being affectionate on the Isle because they don’t care who you’re with. We just...we just hadn’t seen anyone and thought maybe with the whole traditionalist, love story shit, that maybe...are you sure it's okay here?” 

Aiko nodded reassuringly. “There’s definitely some people that aren’t a hundred percent on board, but that’s mostly royals who want heirs and are okay with other people, just not their kids. But Aziz parents are cool, his mom fought for her right to decide who she’d get to marry so she’d be a hypocrite otherwise.” 

She glanced at Jay to see that he wasn’t sure what to do and an idea popped into her head that would have made even her mother proud.  _ Not really, but one could hope _ . “Hey, what if you two had an arm wrestling match? If Jay wins, he gets to teach his moves and if Emir wins, I’ll try and teach you to at least keep up with me.” The fact that white hair had just disappeared into the equipment shed had  _ nothing  _ to do with her plan. 

Both being super competitive, they agreed and sat down across from each other with a table Mal conjured between them. Jay had never lost a match before and didn’t seem to be worried, but as soon as they grabbed hands Emir seemed to realize what he had gotten himself into. Within seconds, Jay had Emir’s hand inches away from the table and yawned. “Dude, you’re going to have to do better…”  _ SLAM! _ Emir had Jay’s hand pinned. 

Carlos was walking over to them while he tried to fix his shirt, which was stuck under his padding and revealed his stomach and low riding pants, a confused expression on his face over why Jay had lost. “Jay?” 

Mal was cackling as her friends seemed to realize what happened and she had to dodge when Jay tried to tackle her. “You knew he was coming, you’re awful Mal.” Luckily he just blew a raspberry into her cheek before snatching Carlos and sitting back down with him on his lap. “Alright Emir, you win. Mal get’s to teach y’all.” 

“You both can, we were just teasing. The boys and I were going to have some pizza after practice, you wanna come?” Li Shang raised an eyebrow in question and grinned when the three of them agreed. They all startled when Coach blew his whistle, and started shoving each other as they turned to run laps. 

* * *

On her way to cheerleading practice, Evie noticed two of their Auradon friends walking around in her designs. Lin Li had taken to the rebellious style more quickly and matched it with cornrows she’d done herself; proudly showing off her torn jeans, light pink t shirt, and dark blue leather jacket with her family’s crest hand sewn on the back. When Evie had given it to her, she’d cried when she realized what it was. 

Jane, on the other hand, was a little less adventurous. She wasn’t comfortable in pants, but she’d allowed Evie to work on her color palette a little. The skirt she was wearing was thick black and pink horizontal stripes, with a light blue jean shirt and a soft pink leather jacket. 

Both girls were getting a lot of attention for their outfits, though Jane more than Lin Li because of their styles. “I love that skirt on you, it's so bold and yet works so well. I love it, you have to tell me where you got it,” one of the other princesses announced with a wide Cheshire smile.  _ Ally, wonderland’s pride and joy _ . 

“A new designer, you wouldn’t know her because we’re her first clients,” Lin Li shrugged the compliments off and Evie flinched. After everything the girls had done for them in the face of other people, maybe they only did that when they knew the VK’s were watching. 

Another princess stepped forward, this one with long brown hair and bright green eyes that gave her parentage away instantly. “Come on Lin Li, you have to tell us. How else are we supposed to get her to design stuff for us to? Aunt Anna’s birthday is coming up and I think she’d love to have something leather to flaunt at council meetings.” 

Jane met eyes with Lin Li and mischievous grins spread across their faces, making Evie raise an eyebrow. “Well I don’t know about your aunt’s birthday, Evie has too much on her plate right now, but maybe if you’ll ask nicely she’ll consider getting it to you by the end of the month.” There was a clear moment when all of the girls realized who they were talking about as their feelings fought with each other. 

The girl who’d asked just nodded happily and turned to walk away when she saw Evie watching them. She waved and bounced over to meet her, looking excited about meeting the child of a villian. “My name is Anxelin, daughter of Rapunzel, and I was wondering if you could do an outfit like that for me. And if you could make a jacket for my aunt in enough time for her birthday that would be great too, but Jane said you might not have enough time. I wouldn’t want to put too much pressure on you because I’m sure you’ll be getting  _ a lot  _ of commissions for dresses for the coronation and now that I think about it my twin sister would probably  _ love _ an outfit too...” 

Evie was shocked. It was then that she realized what her friends had been doing, they’d hid her name so the other girls would be forced to make a choice in front of the others. Admit their bias because they clearly liked the designs and didn’t like her, or give in and ignore where Evie came from. “I...you want one of  _ my _ designs?”

“Again, my mom’s Rapunzel. She’s the perfect example of how you can be raised by a villian and it won’t make you bad.” Anxelin crossed her arms and jutted out a hip. “Also, my dad was a thief until he met my mom and was given the opportunity to be better, just like you’re getting here.  _ And _ my aunt is Elsa of Arendelle, who was almost the villain of her own story because my grandfather forced her to hide her powers and didn’t let her learn to control them.” 

“I get it, I get it,” Evie laughed. She liked this one, maybe she had a new friend. 

* * *

Carlos didn’t know what his friends were planning when he got to the field, but it was nice to be able to show affection with Jay in public. Their relationship wasn’t the most obvious and that was the way they liked it, but sometimes when they got sweaty and worked out, all he wanted to do was curl up on his boyfriend’s lap. 

Other times he wanted the same was when he was sad, and right then he really wanted Jay. He’d woken up slowly as he stretched out on his bed like a cat, curling back around Dude to pet his head. He smiled softly as he burrowed further into his warm blankets and tried to go back to sleep. Then it hit him.  _ He wasn’t tired _ . He looked around his bed for where Jay had to be protecting him, he’d never have slept well unless one of his friends was close by and he felt safe, protected. Not seeing him, he looked over to his boyfriend’s bed to see that Jay was completely passed out. For a second time that night, realization smacked him in the face. The reason he slept so well was still the same, he felt  _ safe _ in Auradon. He’d finally relaxed into his role and he wasn’t afraid of being killed in the night. 

The smack was hard enough that he started crying, burying his face into Dude’s fur as he rocked back and forth, knowing that this was all going to go away the second they grabbed that wand. It barely took a second before Jay joined him on the bed, curling themselves together. “Are you okay pup?” 

Carlos just cried harder because the answer was yes. 


	14. Going on Trial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BriEva pointed out that my transition was a bit abrupt, so I added a few paragraphs to the beginning and I hope that this version makes a little more sense. Chapter sixteen coming soon!

Something was wrong when she woke up in the morning. First of all, it was a weekend and she was up before ten, secondly it was  _ eight _ , and third of all she could feel residual magic in the air. The last of which was probably why she was awake since Evie was stirring as well, both of their bodies sensing danger. “E?” 

“I feel it too, I thought they banned magic besides Fairy Godmother’s wand?” That answer only made them get ready faster, even her princess rushing through putting on her makeup to the point where she did light foundation and mascara, bringing her lipstick with her to do in the hall on the way to get the boys. “Get up,” she hissed as she knocked lightly on their door. 

Jay poked his head out looking like he was going to murder them for interupting his sleep, before realizing that they looked battle ready and maybe he should be too. Without a word, he went back into the door and five minutes later both boys were in the hallway with them. “Where do we look first?”

“Cafeteria, that’s where people would go first in the morning if they don’t know that somethings up. If there’s no one in there, then the students have no idea and we’re not the only ones in danger. If there’s no one there, not even the early risers, we’re in deep shit.” Mal led them down the stairs as quietly as possible, straining her ears as she tried to hear breathing, talking,  _ anything _ . The school had been normal yesterday, even though a few kids had been picked up to go home, it wasn’t all that surprising. Sometimes kids went home for the weekend. But there was always  _ someone  _ who stayed back. If the school was empty, they were trapped. She relaxed the tiniest bit when she saw their friends talking at their table, and the group made their way over. 

Lin Li turned around and saw them, her entire face paling. The entire group was back to high alert as they looked around for the threat, and it wasn’t long before thy heard the tapping of someone walking in behind them. 

Mal knew almost instantly that they had been found out just by seeing Ben’s face when they turned around to see him, and she also knew that there was nowhere to run if they didn’t go willingly. She could feel the wand's magic building as Fairy Godmother waited to hear what the decision was, that was what had woken her and Evie so early. “Are you going to send us back?” she whispered as she looked at his face, someone she thought she might be in love with, and he couldn’t meet her eyes. 

“They want to, the council that is. They voted on it but I demanded that they hold a trial since your parents were given one before their sentencing, I saved you on a technicality. Please prove me right and tell them that you didn’t have a choice or that this is a big misunderstanding.” 

Evie reached out to him because they were friends and as unsure as Mal was to her feelings, Evie fell harder and faster. Mal stopped her from reassuring him because they didn’t need to prove that they could be good to Ben, they had to save their voices for when they faced the nation. “It doesn’t matter now, does it? Because no matter what we tell you we have no evidence of anything. All we have is your trust in us and who we can be, we both know that’s not enough to save us. Thank you for letting us say goodbye.” 

There was no one in the cafeteria besides Ben and their friends, though Jane was missing. Lin Li was crying angrily as she glared at Ben because she couldn’t do much else and Doug was just staring at Evie like she still held the stars, like he was never going to see them again. 

“I’m afraid there’s no time for you to change, you’ll have to present yourselves as you are.” I wasn’t a jab at their looks, it was Ben apologizing because they looked Isle and that just made everything so much harder. “The limo is waiting outside to take us to the castle, everyone was sent home yesterday when we found out so that there wouldn’t be a scene and so the media couldn’t get their hands on you,”  _ or me _ , he didn’t say, “until after your sentencing.” 

Her crew followed her lead as they shuffled sadly to the limo, looking like kicked puppies even as Ben walked away to his own vehicle. The second they pulled away from the school Mal dropped the act and spelled the car so no one would be able to overhear them. “We are not failing the other Isle kids because of our parents and I am certainly not letting them send any of you back. Do you understand?” When her friends nodded, she relaxed slightly. “We need a plan. Jane knows that our parents were forcing us to do this and that we swore we would never go through with it. Clearly Lin Li and Doug are still on our side, so maybe their parents will be open to hearing us out?” 

“At the very least we’ll be able to pressure Agrabah and Corona into backing us, both of them have former thieves as rulers and it will help our case.” Jay didn’t seem all that convinced about what he was saying, but it was something.“Besides, Rapunzel knows what it's like to be raised by Mother Gothel, she’ll be sympathetic.” 

Carlos cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. “Anita followed me after family day and told me that she wants me to trust her. She was really nice and said that if Dude liked me, that was good enough for her. She trusts dogs more than humans.” 

“Brilliant. So that’s maybe three out of four of our parents’ heroes defending us. Doug might have convinced Snow, Aladdin might be hesitant to throw us away, and now we know that Anita likes Carlos.” Mal gritted her teeth at the thought of needing help from the same people who had condemned them, but she shrugged it off. “And if she still loves my mother, Aurora could be of some use as well.” She waved her hand to cancel her spell and they put back on their depressed faces before allowing themselves to be led through the castle as they shuffled along quietly. 

When they entered the courtroom, all of the breath left their lungs as they realized exactly what they were facing. They knew it was the council of heroes, but there were so many people with eyes on them as they stepped into the room. Every single hero and heroine from the stories was watching their entrance with narrowed eyes, even the ones who didn’t have royal status who weren’t invited for every day dealings. That would hurt and help them, as Anita waved shyly to Carlos while she dabbed at her tears. Mal recognized their falsity and silently applauded the woman for having that much skill, though it was yet to be seen whose side she was on. 

“Mal Bertha, daughter of Maleficent and father unknown. Princess Evelyn Agatha Grimhilde, daughter of the evil Queen Grimhilde and the huntsman. Jareth Almasi, son of Jafar and mother unknown. Carlos Oscar De Vil, son of Cruella De Vil and father unknown,” the beastly king announced with a twinge of happiness in his tone. Evie flinched at the mention of her father and Mal reached out a hand to keep her calm. “You have been brought here today due to evidence that shows on the night of your arrival, you attempted to steal Fairy Godmother’s wand from the museum.”

A court appointed speaker stood up and began to read from a document. “Upon its removal from its protective case, it revealed that the shielding had been unsuccessfully tampered with and the investigation began from there. Though your involvement was erased from the original footage,”  _ go Carlos _ , “the investigation dug into the backups and showed the four of you sneaking through the museum and a failed attempt to obtain the wand. Do you deny these allegations?” 

“No, we do not,” the four of them said in unison. They didn’t dare look up from the floor to see the disappointment on Ben’s face. 

“Prince Ben has asked the court to look into the motive for these actions,” the speaker continued. “I will present the scenario that he believes to be true and you will respond by saying either yes or no. Yes means that the information being presented is fully correct, no meaning that either parts or all of the statement is incorrect. Do you understand how we will proceed?” 

Mal nodded and looked up. “Yes, sir.” 

“I’m going to start with a few short samples to demonstrate to the court that you do in fact understand. Prince Ben believes that your parents wanted you to come here.” Yes. “He believes that you wanted to come here.” When they responded no, that seemed to shock everyone. “You will be asked about your answer to that later, as with all of your negative answers,” he informed them and Mal relaxed when she realized this wasn’t just a game of true or false. “When the four of you arrived at Auradon prep, you were greeted by a large crowd of people including the school band and Fairy Godmother herself. You showed interest in the wand at that moment. Was this accidental?” No. “Was your interest in the wand on behalf of your parents?” 

The questioning continued until they had established that the four of them had gone to school and done their best because they couldn’t do anything else, and had truly made friends. They covered everything from the breakup between Audrey and Ben to if Mal had used magic on Ben during any portion of the relationship to if she was using him to get to the wand. 

“Now there were a few negative answers that the court would appreciate you elaborating on. You did not want to come to Auradon in the first place, you did not use Ben to get to the wand, and you made friends here in Auradon through typical means. Please explain to the court your answers.” 

“I was terrified of dogs before I arrived at Auradon, Ben can confirm this because he watched me literally run up a tree trying to get away from Dude, the campus mutt.” When the prince nodded to show that this was true, Carlos continued. “My mother used dogs to threaten me and explain why she tried to kill them, saying that they were rabid pack animals that needed a master or they would attack anything small enough for them to take down. I knew that there were dogs here in Auradon and that none of you would do what she said ‘controlled’ them, so I honestly thought I would die if I came here.” Anita was looking at him sadly, as were a few others, and it was easy to see why. Carlos was always the best at making himself look like a target, so it wasn’t hard to see how the thought of a dog could scare him. 

Jay just shrugged when Carlos was done but she could tell how stressed he was. “It’s kind of hard not to make friends with the guys you're constantly protecting from projectiles and another teams, the guys just kind of became like my brothers.” 

“I can confirm,” someone said and Coach stood up from his seat. “Though I can’t speak to Evie because she wasn’t on my team, the other three worked hard and created a real comradery with the other players. And from what I saw, Evie’s cheering from the sidelines was a huge part of what made that happen,” he winked in their direction. “Based on all of your confusion, I believe it's time for me to steal a bit of the limelight, and…” in a flash of smoke appeared the genie with a wide smile. “Hello all.” 

Beast rolled his eyes as if this was a common occurrence while the VKs stared at their suddenly blue coach. “Genie, you know the rules about magic in the courtroom and if I have to remind you  _ again _ you will be banned from all meetings instead of just the important ones.” He turned to a man that looked exactly like an older version of Aziz, gritting his teeth. “Can’t you control him for five minutes? He’s  _ your _ Genie.” 

Aladdin sighed like this was an old argument and he was tired of explaining every single time that in fact, “Genie is free and therefore I have no control over what he does. Even if I did, I feel in this instance he has every right to announce himself.” 

“Aw Al, you do care,” Genie cried dramatically and turned into a blue Jasmine with literal heart eyes as he leaned over the table. The contrast between their put together coach and what was expected of a djinn, to be expressive and crazy and to defy any norms that could be placed upon them. “Sorry kiddos, I know this is a bit of a shocker, but come on. This has been the greatest play I’ve ever done in my life.” 

There was a loud  _ bang! _ as Beast slammed his hands down on the table, growling lowly before he got himself under control. “Enough. You forget yourselves and what we are here for. These four are on trial for the attempted theft of a powerful magical weapon that they intended to use to break their parents out of the prison  _ we _ created to protect ourselves from them. One of them has already claimed to be afraid of his mother due to her crazed mind, how do we know that they don’t share this with their parents? How do we know that as much fear as they have, they don’t hate us and all that is good more than they fear their parents? We sit here with idle chatter and I am tired of it. Grow a backbone.” 

“ _ Fine _ ,” someone hissed as they rose to meet him and Mal was surprised to see the same golden hair from the stories. Rapunzel appeared furious and the look was not suited for her. “I was raised by one of the villains we sent to the isle, in fact I loved her. I had no memory of my parents, Gothel was the one to change my nappies and nurse me when I was sick. She was the one who fed me, clothed me, and kept me safe. Was I afraid of her? Yes. Would I have  _ hurt _ someone for her? Not knowingly.” 

Her husband gave her a teasing smile as he pulled her back into their seats. “You did hit me with a frying pan a few times, but to be fair that was more for your self-defense than what Gothel told you to do.” 

“If I understand her correctly, I also believe the children should be allowed to stay.” When Rapunzel nodded to show this was correct, Anita continued. “They have admitted to their past wrongs and came here willingly to stand trial. Even when faced with threats in the past,” she said while directly looking at Queen Leah, “they kept calm for the most part and did not get violent or make threats. Even I have to admit to being surprised by this when it first occurred, but now I know why. They have been changed for the better, even if they aren’t heroes. You don’t need to save the world to be a good person.” 

There were murmurs of agreement and Mal dared to look over at Ben who seemed to relax into his chair with each new voice.  _ He wants us to stay, he doesn’t hate me for what happened. At least not yet. _ “You might not need to be a hero, but you certainly can’t be a criminal. At the very least these children deserve jail time for their offence,” Wendy Darling stated with her hands on her hips. 

“You think jail time is enough? They would have freed Ursula and Morgana, individually the two of them caused over a hundred years of war in the oceans and we’re still cleaning up their messes. What do you think they’d do  _ together _ , given the chance?” King Triton, she presumed, based on the fact that he was holding his trident and was standing behind a redhead and a man with silvering black hair. “Your kingdoms as a whole are surrounded on most sides by sea, do you really think it would take them long to wipe you all out?” 

“Daddy, they aren’t Ursula or Morgana’s children, this isn’t our fight,” Ariel tried to placate him. She clearly disapproved but didn’t feel she had a right to an opinion at the moment. “I think we should let those who have a personal stake in this decide. Anita has made her opinion clear, we can ask Roger, Aurora, Snow, their husbands…” 

Finally the fighting got too much and it just became a wall of noise as everyone tried to get their opinion across. Beast wasn’t helping as he tried to get order through being the loudest in the room, with Fairy Godmother nervously fluttering about the room trying to help. 

Mal was starting to panic as bile rose in her throat, watching all of these people arguing over whether or not her friends, her  _ family,  _ should be sent back to the very place that had ruined them in the first place. Her magic was slowly clawing its way up into her throat, a spell to make it all stop on the tip of her tongue and tears threatening to fall. “ _ Fugere de periculo…. _ ” 

The doors to the council room flew open with a rush of air and all of the sound in the room seemed to be sucked out as Jane stormed into the room. Her feet were barely touching the floor as if it wasn’t worthy enough to hold her weight, her eyes completely white and yet still held so much anger. Before anyone could come to their senses, she made her purpose clear as she stepped between Mal and her friends, almost guarding them from the council. “Yes, they broke into the museum, the first night they were here. Yes, they have admitted to their parents only allowing, actually  _ forcing them to _ come here because they wanted to escape. But were none of you listening when they said they don’t want to anymore? If you can’t believe them, believe me. I was there the night that they officially decided to give up their plans.”

Beast rose slowly to his feet as he looked at Jane with a soft expression, like she was a child he was about to inform that the tooth fairy wouldn’t visit her anymore. “I know you want to defend your friends, but they’ve committed multiple crimes and admitted to planning to break their parents out. We can’t excuse that because they told you they wouldn’t.” 

A growl that wasn’t human arose in Mal’s throat, but Jane cut her off with a wave of her hand. “You want proof? You’ll have to forgive me for my methods, extreme charges require extreme measures.” A wand materialized in her hand as she started murmuring a spell under her breath, magic swirling around the room as some of the council made noises of fear. As a finishing flare, Jane pointed her wand directly at Beast as she wrapped up the spell. “I wish, I wish upon a star, show the court how wrong they are. I wish, I wish with all my might, show how my friends have joined the light.”

Mal felt the magic centralize on the council, but Jane had over done the spell and even her friends were sucked in. 


	15. Reliving History

Evie blinked her eyes open and was surprised to find herself in the kitchen, her and her friends wearing the same outfits that they had during Family Day and sitting exactly where they had positioned themselves when Mal had dragged them in there. She couldn’t control her body or mouth as she dipped a finger into the dough Mal was working into a malleable consistency. 

“E, you’ll get sick if you eat this. You’re supposed to be the smart one,” her best friend whispered and Evie’s heart twitched when she caught sight of the love behind her eyes. It had been years since they’d been together, but there were moments when they could relax and be themselves that the two of them remembered that the spark was still there. “Lin Li suggested something called chips? They’d be labeled in the cupboard,” she whispered and dipped her head. 

Jay snorted from his place sitting with his legs spread on one of the counters, his hands digging into Carlos’ sides to keep him calm while he randomly pressed kisses into his cheeks. Though their Auradon friends knew they were dating, they still hadn’t gotten past just sitting on each other yet. “Are we seriously just going to ignore what happened out there and make cookies? I mean, you heard what Queen Leah and Chad were saying, we gotta do something about that.” 

Though she agreed, Evie shook her head. “You’re missing the fact that they ended up looking like the bad guys,  _ Anita _ stood up for us and talked to Carlos like he was normal. Lin Li, Jane,  _ Ben _ , they all made sure we were safe.” 

“And as we all know, that’s a declaration of loyalty on the Isle and one we kind of can’t turn down,” Carlos agreed and she shot him a quick smile in thanks before going back to her search. “So, how does this affect our plans? I mean, we  _ have _ to steal the wand. They could send us back and if we don’t do what our parents say, we’re as dead as we can be.” 

“That's not going to happen,” the girls growled together just as Evie dropped her find on the counter next to the bowl. “I know what your parents threatened you all with and I know what my mom said she’d do...but they can’t do those things if we’re here, and Ben won’t let us get sent back. We’re safe here. We just have to get as many of our people over here as soon as possible so they won’t go around ripping off body parts or turning them all into slave labor.” 

A cup fell to the floor when Carlos started laughing, his sudden movement startling Jay. “My mom would find a way to get to me, you know she always does,” he reminded them and the bitterness in his words hit them all. “I run away for a day, I’m dragged back and locked in my closet. I make it longer and she makes sure I can’t walk with one of her bear traps and has me scrub every inch of the manor. What do you think she’s going to do to me if I’m away from her for  _ this _ long?” 

It took Mal forcing her to uncurl her fingers that she realized she was digging her nails into her palms enough to make them bleed. Evie couldn’t feel it, maybe because it was a memory or maybe because in that moment, she’d been numb all over. 

“I swear on my life that if your parents so much as come up with a  _ plan _ to get off the Isle, I will personally take everything away that gives them power. Jafar’s hands, Grimilhide’s face, Cruella’s furs and traps. I will burn all of it, their homes, everything.” Mal’s eyes were glowing so brightly they partially illuminated the room, and the cookies that had been rolled out were cooked on the tray without ever having been near the oven. “But I honestly think...we should stay. Forget the wand, stay here with our friends and be  _ safe _ .” 

“You’re just saying that because you’ve got a new boy toy to play with,” Jay joked easily but it was clear he was holding back tears. “Do you honestly think they could accept us? That we could be good and fit in with all of these people?” 

Evie felt herself shaking her head, because as much as they had learned while being there they had too much mischief running in their blood. They’d been hurt too much, had too many bad habits to shake. “We’ll never be Auradon, we’ll be wicken and rotten, because we’re Isle. But we won’t plot takeovers, we’ll go on dates with our boys and go to tourney games, sew clothing lines that aren’t as fun as I’d like. We’ll live here and we’ll follow their rules, making sure they know we aren’t changing ourselves for them.” 

The others nodded and three of them jumped when Jane poked her head up from where she was hiding behind a cabinet. “Hey Jane, I was wondering when you were going to make an appearance. I noticed you when we arrived so I know you didn’t follow us,” Mal assured, but her smile was sharp. “What can’t understand is why you hid.” 

“I was searching for a midnight snack, you know, and I heard you come in and you were mad and I thought maybe it was at me and Lin Li and so I stayed down because I didn’t want to bother you and I’m sorry, I sometimes just freeze and…” 

Mal rolled her eyes. “It’s fine, I get it. Want a cookie?” She asked, holding out a still gooey and warm one. The second Jane’s fingers touched it, the darkness was back and a swirling feeling washed over them all. 

Evie found herself standing in the council room exactly where she had been when Jane stormed into it, her right hand gripping Mal’s and her left pulling Carlos behind her in an attempt to block him from the magic. It was an instinct she didn’t know the origin of. She checked over her friends and noticed that they were all shaking as badly as she was, so she looked at the council. It was clear what had happened, even if she didn’t want to believe it. Jane had forced everyone in that room to live through their memory, exactly as it happened. 

More than a few people were dazed, but one in particular was completely clear headed and glaring at the four of them. King Beast himself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I haven't updated lately and I'm sorry. It's only been about two weeks, but still I usually update weekly so this was bad. 
> 
> I'm going through finals right now for college, so I have a lot of stuff happening. I have a 10 page paper, a normal paper, two portfolios, 50 hand written poems that I have to mail in, a 100 question test I only have two hours to do, a commentary, and a reflection due all by the 27th. A few of those things I've finished _thank god_ , but some of them I haven't. 
> 
> Like that 10 page paper I haven't started, but that's not your problem. 
> 
> Hopefully I'll be updating more frequently! You'll see the council's decision next chapter and things move quickly from there!We're getting into the big action and this is just the build up. 
> 
> _evil laughter while I pet the fattest cat ever, her name is Heidi and she is stupid_


	16. Can't Press Pause On Life

One would only hope that after being forced to relive what happened in that kitchen, the people who were going to punish her friends would be more lenient on them. It was clear her friends hadn’t wanted to do any harm to Auradon in the first place, though many would debate that, though they hadn’t done anything wrong after breaking into the museum. Jane would have staked her magic that they were safe, if not for the King. Even though Ben would be crowned soon, his father still held all the power. 

“I see you’ve found strong allies here in Auradon, unexpected but not entirely surprising given where you come from.” He was grinning even as his eyes narrowed and all Jane wanted to do was melt into the floorboards. Evie grabbed her hand and pulled her over to them, a welcome show of their thanks. “Before you arrived, Ben convinced me to allow you to come here by telling me that the children of the isle are innocent. You have just proven that his sentiments were wrong, that you not only planned to steal the wand but to release your parents into Auradon to do god only knows what. I think it's fair to say that Auradon is no longer safe with you four  _ here _ .” 

Now even those who had been calling for their banishment just minutes before were silent, but those who supported were angered with new vigor. Antita looked absolutely murderous and though her husband was calmer, appeared equally upset at the statement. “How can you be so cruel? You are a king, so at least  _ act _ like you care about anyone but yourself.” Mal looked like she was trying to cover up a laugh at that, while Carlos looked completely stunned. “I knew Cruella, I  _ loved _ her. She had a benign tumor in her brain and she refused to take medication for it, so it got worse and worse until all of this happened. Carlos appears to be healthy and of sound mind, even though by all the gods he very easily could have gone mad after what we just heard. They were  _ abused _ on the Isle, and if it takes my husband and I adopting him to help him stay here, we’ll do it.” 

“Cruella didn’t even want me, and you two would adopt me just to make sure I stayed here?” Carlos was shaking and Jane reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, trying to make sure he kept his breathing under control. 

“We’d gladly take you in, especially after what we heard today. But we’d never force you to agree, or even live with us if you did. You mentioned being afraid of dogs, we would never ask you to be around ours if you weren’t okay with it,” Roger assured him in front of the stunned council. “Our youngest even goes to Auradon Prep, she’s a senior. She’s the one that suggested the idea.”

Jasmine stood too and looked at them as if to see if they were done. “Agrabbah also offers a home to Jay,” she stated while looking directly at Beast. She turned to Jane and the others with a softer expression. “Aziz always wanted a sibling, but I can’t have any more kids. Between Genie and him, we would have a riot if we didn’t at least ask.” 

“You’re damn right!” Genie agreed with a wide smile and threw Jay a thumbs up. “In fact, if you try to bring that boy to the isle I’ll just poof him and his friends to safety and you won’t find them, so there.” 

Aladdin glared at his friend to get him to stop threatening the king of Auradon, while Jay looked just as stunned as Carlos. Jane could imagine that neither of them ever imagined the heroes of their parents’ stories offering to take them in, let alone fight for them. 

“ENOUGH!” Beast roared and the whole room snapped to attention. “We will vote again on what should occur, with Ben and Jane waiting  _ outside _ . All those in favor of the villian children being sent back will say so, then those who think they should stay. If you vote they should stay, we will vote again on what to do with them. Agreed?” 

All council members nodded and suddenly Jane was being escorted out of the room by guards with arms the size of her thighs and twice as muscular. She stuck her tongue out at the king’s back as they left. When her and Ben were finally alone, she turned to apologize to him. Instead, she got an arm full of his hugs, with him thanking her through his tears. 

“I love them, Janey, they can’t go back. And because of you, I don’t think they will.” 

* * *

While the two Auradon kids were outside having a heart to heart, Mal was feeling like her heart was going to burst out of her chest and she’d bleed out on the floor. The moment the doors shut, Beast had called the meeting to order. “All those in favor of these four being sent back to where they came from and the integration program being dismantled.” It appeared he had taken his vote off the table in his confidence, but that very visibly wavered as only Queen Leah and King Triton raised their hands. “All those in favor of them staying here in Auradon.” And the opposite occurred. 

Belle stepped forward from her place next to her husband and it was the first time Mal even realized she was there outside of her subconscious notes. “Anita, Roger, and Sultana Jasmine have put forth one option moving forward that I am going to tweak slightly. Part of the rehabilitation would now involve volunteers taking in the children we bring over, if they are under the age of sixteen. Option number two, would be that the program remains as it is with the children going to Auradon Prep and staying there over vacations with a skeletal staff watching over them. Option three, we allow these four to stay, but prevent anyone else and cancel the program. Option four, we discuss the terms of their punishment for the attempted thievery. In each option previous, the attempt would be ignored due to good behavior with the reminder that if anything were to happen after this vote, real action would be taken. You will put in your official vote for this matter as if they are staying in any form, they are citizens.” 

While Mal had no idea what that meant, it seemed that each of the council members had a tablet that they were using to send in their votes. As much as it was annoying that she couldn’t see who was voting for what, she at least appreciated that they were allowed to stay so the council would have to look at them after making the decision. 

The same court appointed speaker from before rose as everyone put down their tablets and the voting was over. “Out of the fifty seven people here today, none voted for Option Two which was for the program to remain as it is. Fifteen voted for Option Three, which was to end the program but allow these four to stay. Seventeen voted for Option Four, which was to let them remain but be punished. And winning by one vote, 18 votes,” 一 Mal was going to be sick out of excitement, she knew there was only one option left and that meant 一”we have option one. To let them stay with no punishment, and to have them be adopted into families when possible.” 

They partied in their dorm room for two hours by eating as much food as the kitchen would let them have and playing video games with no malice. Lin Li had cried, Jane had fainted, and Ben hadn’t stopped twirling Mal or Evie around since they got back. 

“And do you want to know the best part?” Ben asked her as he finally put her down. “The media has no idea what just happened. We kept it under wraps so the council wouldn’t look like complete idiots and we could get our story straight first. So your parents have no idea you chose…”

Mal kissed him right there and then and it was like she was settling into her own body, like she was officially who she was meant to be. “I think I love you,” she whispered as she looked at him, knowing that he had stood up to the council, still liked her even after all that had happened, and everything that he had done before. “I think you taught me what love is because you got me to feel it.” 

Jay wolf whistled, but Mal was too busy kissing Ben again to care much. 

* * *

The coronation went off without a single hitch, and on the carriage ride, yes a _ carriage ride _ with horses pulling it and everything, Ben said he loved her too and gave her his ring as a promise. And when that crown got placed on his head, she felt like nothing in the world could go wrong as she cheered right along with the rest of the crowd. But then those cheers turned to screaming as her hands wrapped around the wand and her eyes glowed green. 

“You know I always knew the people of Auradon were soft,” her mouth said without her consent as her mother’s voice came out. “I just didn’t know they could ruin long term investments. Children might be easily manipulated, but mother knows best.” She laughed cruelly as she spun around to see her friends, trying to plead with them with her eyes to help her. “I do have to thank one of you though, I always knew your alliance with my daughter would be good for something which is why you aren’t dead. That old machine you thought you destroyed, puppy boy, it still worked. Just enough to make pretty little Malli do this…” A jolt of magic passed through her as her mother’s possession disappeared right along with the stream of light from the wand. She wasn’t powerful enough to take it down, not when she was fighting it, but her mother controlled just enough to make the hole bigger. Big enough for a dragon to pass through. 

She dropped to her knees as her energy gave out and she watched as tears fell to the floor with her happiness, crushed as she balled her fists. Evie tried to pull her up, but she was as heavy as the pain inside her. “Mal you have to get up.” 

“You don’t understand,” she sobbed. “My mother is coming. She didn’t have enough power to get everyone through, so she’s alone. But she’s coming, and it's my fault.” And maybe because Mal was getting all the attention, or because that’s who she was, a window rained down on the crowd and a body slammed to the floor in what she hoped was a killing blow. 

The universe wasn’t that kind. “Not coming, Mal. Here.” 


	17. The Eyes Have It

Mal couldn't breathe. Or maybe was it just that her lungs had decided to surrender to her mother and was just waiting for the rest of her body to follow. From the moment the word, “here” left her mother’s mouth, her entire body went into overdrive. 

There were at least a thousand guests, with four hundred of them being students and staff members from Auradon Prep. Besides the band, they were up in the balconies and were away from the action, but were in danger of falling if any magic hit them. In immediate danger was her and her friends because they disobeyed, with Ben and his family next on her mother’s target list. After that it would be a free-for-all. 

As her mother rose from the dent she had caused in the floor in what seemed like slow motion, Mal forced her friends behind her and used her magic to throw open all the doors so the guests could escape. “GO!” she shouted over her mother’s cackling, though it seemed like only a dozen or so people had collected themselves enough to realize that staying wasn’t a good idea. The wand was still in her hands as she held it like a sword between the people she cared about and the one person she wanted approval from most. 

“Malli,” her mother sang softly as green eyes met identical ones, one of the few features they shared. “Are you trying to save these people? Do you think they can protect you from what’s about to happen? Do you actually  _ care _ what I’m going to do to them while I make you  _ watch _ ?” 

Evie and Jay were at her back while she knew Carlos was trying to make the others run away as quickly as possible. In a fight of magic, he would only be in danger and would make them distracted. He knew that. “Mother, you aren’t welcome here.” Mal hoped the sneer on her face was threatening instead of defensive, hoped she looked like a dragon instead of the prey her mother was trying to make her into. “Did you get bored on your  _ island _ ?” 

Her mother smiled as she threw her hands up, finally sealing the room so that those who had been too scared to run were now trapped inside. She laughed in joy as they all snapped out of their frozen states, running for the door as they tried to break out, screams and cries that made even Mal roll her eyes. Maleficent wasn’t enjoying their fear, she was enjoying the dread on their faces as they realized they had a chance to save themselves and they didn’t. “So you do have some of your bite left in you, I was worried you’d been stuffed fat with kindness and chivalry that you’d been turned into one of these snivelling fools.” She used her thumb to point at the crowds shoving and crying still. “There’s hope for you yet, maybe you can still be of use and I don’t have to kill you.” 

Mal felt a roar building in her throat until it washed over everything and suddenly the world was silent. The people who had once been fighting to break out were turned to look at her in fear, their eyes wide and their mouths open as they tried to find the courage to gasp. “You think you have the strength to kill me mother?” The wand slipped into her boot and she clapped her hands as green mist seeped out of her finger tips. “You’re an old, washed up, villian who has spent twenty years on a prison you could never escape. You had to use the technology of a  _ fifteen year old _ to even possess me, and even that wouldn’t have worked if I wasn’t already standing next to the podium with the  _ king _ . I have power here mother, real power. I have people who would die for me not because I order them to, but because  _ I would do the same _ . You are standing there alone, and you’re already defeated.” 

Her mother’s answer was a roar that shook the entire building, the balconies crumbling to pieces under the pressure and Mal was so glad that her classmates had the brains to run. “You make a challenge you can’t win, Malli. But you were always a pain in my ass. I should have drowned you when you were born.” 

“But you didn’t, did you? Cause Dad stopped you, he was more powerful than you. And so  _ am I _ .” She felt the transformation before she understood what she was doing, her body reacting on instinct as the leather boots she wore absorbed into her scales, the trail of her dress warping into a tail and her arms shattering as her bones spread out into wings. The eyes comment was a lie. There was one other thing she shared with her mother...her dragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is kind of short, but the next few are really long and so I took this part of what was supposed to be chapter seventeen and made it it's own.


	18. Wish Upon A Star

Jane had never felt so much magic in one room as she stood on Jay’s right side, holding his hand as she tried to connect their magic. Djinn and Wishing Fae weren’t all that different, but that very fact was why their magics were fighting. There were so many wishes in the room to answer, not even just those that made sense in the moment. The only thing settling them was Evie, pushing her own wish of safety straight into their magic with her own. 

“Stop fighting the barrier or everyone dies,” Jay warned through gritted teeth. Some of the men were putting up face and pretending that they would jump into the fray if given the chance, forcing them to concentrate harder than they would have otherwise. 

Before someone could say anything rude about him, Jane turned to glare at them all. “I wish you would all be silent so we can do our job, I wish this would be a quiet mob.” Because she was speaking the wish, her body pulled the magic out of the air instead of out of her core and didn’t affect the barrier they had created to make sure no one turned into a crispy dinner for Maleficent. “I wish, I wish, you’d all be frozen, I make this wish as the chosen.” Though she didn’t understand why she said that last part, she was too busy dealing with something else to think on it long. Her wings burst from out of her dress, which would have been embarrassing if she wasn’t suddenly wearing a dark blue dress that looked like it was made out of a galaxy. 

“Holy shit, dude,” her friends muttered from her left and she had to admit that that reaction was valid and what was happening in her head in a pitch even  _ she _ couldn’t hear. “You do know we still gotta protect these people, right?” 

Jane stuck her tongue out at Evie only to flinch back when Mal’s body slammed against the barrier.  _ Right, me magically changing clothes is not the most important thing that’s going on right now.  _ She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. 

That was, of course, harder said than done. Maleficent was bigger than Mal was when they were in human form, but as dragons the difference was at least a hundred pounds. Maleficent dove after Mal, who rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed under her mother’s weight. Maleficent roared in anger, blasting fire at Mal’s sensitive underbelly to force her back, diving at her exposed neck. The fight was clearly in Maleficent's favor, but Mal wasn’t going down without a fight. 

_ She might win _ , Jane thought hopefully only for it to be crushed right along with Mal when she was thrown into the ground. Maleficent picked her up again and even though Mal tried to fight her off, she was dropped again and again. 

“Mal!” Evie screamed in fear as she watched her best friend’s eyes roll back into her head, only to relax when she got up each time. “She’s too stubborn to let her mother win, she’d rather agree with Chad.” She seemed so confident, but that didn’t last very long. 

The next time Mal fell to the floor, she didn’t move. Not even her torso went up and down to show she was breathing and until they saw her nose twitch, they weren’t sure she even  _ was _ breathing. Maleficent changed back to human form and walked over to where her daughter was dying on the ground, looking her over with such disappointment it curled something  _ mean _ in Jane’s stomach. 

“You could have been better than even the fiercest of warriors, taken over the moors while I took back what the humans stole from our kind. You could have had more than just that boy-king you’ve been toying with, you could have had your princess…I would have let you keep her as a reward, you are my daughter after all…” Maleficent was stroking Mal’s muzzle, like she would an animal that had to be out down. “Such a disappointment…” she growled, her staff appearing in her hand. She raised it until it was hovering over Mal’s stomach, tracing lazy circles. “At least in death, you’ll be worth something to me.” Jane couldn’t take it anymore and broke away from the other two, drawing Maleficent’s attention. “You don’t scare me, little birdie.” 

She didn’t even flinch. “You don’t deserve her, you know. I know your story and I know how badly you were hurt. I know that you were ripped away from your home and sent to live in that place. But I also know that you took out everything on the one person who might actually understand, your daughter.” 

Maleficent snarled angrily, rising to her feet when she realized Jane wasn’t backing down. “My child is nothing, she doesn’t understand the pain the humans have brought us. And fae like you, weak and scared and falling to your knees every time someone says the words, I wish. You might be protected by Fairy Godmother, but one day you will be an adult and the humans will ruin you.” 

“You’re so bitter, and I understand why. But don’t you think Mal is too? Or don’t you remember how young she was when they ripped you away from the moors? What the humans caused her to go through?” The words were rushing out of Jane’s mouth and she didn’t understand most of them, but they seemed to have an affect. “Mal will never get her wings, her horns…She knows it, and you know it. When were you going to tell her why? What were you going to do when she figured it out? When Aurora found out she had a sister?!” 

“You are nothing but a light fae without magic.” Maleficent roared as she moved to attack, only to find that she couldn’t do anything. “What is this? What did you do?” She cried as she turned to realize Mal wasn’t as close to death as she thought. 

“There’s a reason I have friends, they make for a great distraction,” she sneered at her mom, watching as Maleficent tried to use her staff. She couldn’t, of course. Not when her body was shrinking and her skin turning to scales morphing into a miniature version of her own dragon. Mal created a cage around the lizard that was now her mother. “You taught me a lot, mother, but you always had one problem. Underestimating me, and what I do.” 

Out of reflex, Jane jumped forward to grab Mal the second her started to drop. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only have two chapters left, so I'm going to power through and finish this story so I can focus on other stuff. Also, besides two tests, I'm officially done my first year of college! I want a nap.


	19. Secrets and Oaths

Jay’s eyes never left her body. Even though she was strapped to the bed, both physically and magically, her inner self kept rising out of her body as if trying to escape, only to be dragged back down again. It had been less than twenty-four hours since the coronation went to hell, and he was almost positive that they were going to be sent back. The conditions laid out after their trial were that they had to follow the laws of any other citizen and that they could be sent back if they commited a crime. Completing the task that their parents had sent them over to Auradon for, releasing Maleficent on the public, that was most definitely a crime and Mal...he couldn’t let her go back alone. He was the leader when Mal couldn’t be and he’d told Evie that she had to stay; to help the kids that would be freed because the brightside was that the court couldn’t back out on that part. 

The one thing he couldn’t do was tell Carlos, but when his boyfriend walked into the hospital room with food Jay  _ knew _ it was time. “It’s your turn to get some rest, Jay. Evie should be here soon to join me and it's not worth fighting about it, they only let two of us in here at a time.” 

Jay sighed. “Actually, I think you should go find Evie...she’s already said her goodbyes.” He hoped that maybe Carlos wouldn’t realize what was happening just yet, but it was wishful thinking. Instantly his face scrunched into anger and fear, refusal. That was the guy he loved, even if he couldn’t tell him just yet. 

“You aren’t going back there without me, I don’t care what you say as leader because you aren’t making this choice as a leader. You need me on the Isle; you need me to make tech so we can talk to Evie, to make runs for food, to get stuff from my mom so you don’t freeze in the winters. You wouldn’t survive half a day without me and you know it, so why are you asking me to stay behind?” He was rambling and they both knew it, because honestly Carlos wanted to stay in Auradon as much as Jay wanted him to. His mother lived up to her name, even with her own kid. “Why are you leaving me here?” 

“Because you’ll be safe here,” he whispered as his fingers wove their wave through Carlos’ curls, pulling their foreheads together until their noses brushed and he could feel each breath between them. “Because you’ll never have to think about making runs, or seeing your mother, or if you’ll freeze in the winter. Because my dad is a terrible parent, but at least I have blankets and he treats me right when I bring him things. Pup, I can’t see you go back there because I’m worried it will kill you. Mal and I will be okay, she got rid of Maleficent even if it was to protect a bunch of Auradonians.” 

Carlos wasn’t crying; no one on the Isle cried unless they were trying to make a potion that required them or they walked by something that was likely emitting poisonous gas based on smell alone. But his fists were balled into Jay’s undershirt, fingernails tearing the worn fabric and possibly drawing blood. “I hate you for this, I don’t think I can forgive you.” 

_ Lies _ , he teased in his head but his mouth wasn’t working. “Just, make sure the tourney team doesn’t go to shit again once we leave, alright? I mean, we finally won a championship and that streak needs to continue.” 

“Where are you going?” Of course they knew that Ben was in the hallway and had decided to join them, their instincts were still there and it wasn’t even like the king was trying to hide from them. “Are you going to take the Sultana up on her offer? I’m sure that would make Genie happy.”

Jay tried to shove down a growl of anger at the thought of leaving Mal to be pampered with Aziz; Ben didn’t know he was joining Mal yet. “I’m going with Mal, actually, and you can’t stop me from doing it. I don’t care if you send me now or when she wakes up, but if she goes back so do I. The other two did nothing wrong, this was all the two of us and you…” 

Ben raised his hands to cut him off and when that didn’t work he put a hand out. “Jay, no one is going back to the Isle. Not you, not Mal, not any of you, alright? First of all, the possession was fairly obvious considering the fact that Maleficent’s voice came out instead of Mal’s, then there’s the fact that the four of you and Jane protected everyone as much as you could, and now Mal’s in a coma healing from the battle. You risked your lives for us, why on earth would we send you back?” 

“Because you still don’t know where the wand ended up and people will think this was all a ploy to get the wand without you all knowing.”  _ Not the time to be smart _ . Jay glared at his boyfriend but Ben didn’t seem surprised by his words. 

He just shrugged. “Fairy Godmother says there’s no way any of you could have taken it, and we know from previously that its effects don’t work on her so there’s no reason not to believe her.” Jay and Carlos exchanged disbelieving looks while Ben just gave them his court appointed smile. 

* * *

By the time Ben had convinced the hospital to move Mal into her old room without the restraints, since this was a magical issue, Jay believed him about them not being sent back to the Isle. The one issue was that it seemed now that those who had seen the fight were being allowed out of the hospital, they were talking to the media. When they got back to school, there were at least a hundred reporters being shooed off the grounds by the guards while they all tried to get a picture of the four of them. Ben was frowning all the way inside, and grabbed Fairy Godmother when they passed her. “Why so many reporters on campus? I would think they’d be at the palace where they could badger the council.” 

She let out a huff as her only response, directing them all to her office. “People overheard what Jane said about Aurora and Mal; there have been rumors flying every which way since that tidbit came to light. They want Jane to go on camera to explain since a blurry video got released showing she was the one who said it.” 

Before any of the boys could respond, someone knocked gently on the door and made their way inside. “I’ll be making that statement, Fairy Godmother, since I know exactly what to say. The truth.” Queen Aurora stood before them in her finest gown, one that was completely covered in dirt and grime from the mess the fight created. “I’ve already scheduled the meeting, I just wanted to inform you all before you saw it.” 

“There’s no way in Hades that you’re  _ actually _ going to tell the truth because that would ruin both your reputation, and your  _ father’s _ . So what story are you going to tell to the public? What tale are you going to  _ spin _ ?” Jay growled low in his throat at the thought of her destroying them in front of the public like that. 

Aurora didn’t even flinch. “I have a script that I will follow, you don’t need to get aggressive with me.” She rolled back her shoulders like she was preparing for a fight and put on a smile to match, looking over all their heads like she was making eye-contact with a camera. “Mal is my biological half sister. Before he was King Stefan, my father was romantically involved with her mother and of that came Mal. Dragon Fae are born as eggs, incubated as their magic develops enough to survive their first few years of life. The egg was not incubated and was stored while the war was going on, and then was stunted on the isle. As this is all very personal information about a  _ minor _ , I can not speak any more on the matter.” She returned to normal and raised an eyebrow at them. “Good enough?” 

“If you only say that and then walk off the stage, then sure. Though ‘romantically involved’ is a strong way of describing their encounter that night, don’t you think?” Jay sneered at her as he grabbed Carlos by the hand, pulling both of them out of the office. Evie was helping the nurses move Mal so they knew she was safe; they were probably in the room by then. 

Ben caught up to them on the stairs, but they ignored him in favor of continuing up the stairs. “We’re not who you should ask, Ben. Your girlfriend might be in a coma, but Evie is still awake and would gladly tell you the truth about why the two of us are so fucking pissed.” 

“I’m not pissed” ─ Carlos butted in ─ “I’m just surprised she had the guts to show up and say that to our faces as if  _ we _ were the problem. And I’m imagining Audrey’s face when she finds out about all of this, Mal’s her aunt.” His grin was evil as they all processed that and shivered. “Evie, Ben has to ask you something,” he announced as they walked into the girl’s dorm room. “He wants the truth about who Mal’s daddy is.” 

“I thought  _ Ben _ was her daddy,” she joked back in response only to pale when she realized it wasn’t just Jay and Carlos. “Um, sorry about that.” Evie had cleaned herself up and had been sitting on the bed next to Mal until they arrived, but she was quick to stand and drag Ben over to the chairs. “Do you really want to know?” 

Jay turned his back on the pair so he could look over Mal again, making sure she didn’t have any new bruises or cuts made by nurses who didn’t care. He wasn’t ignoring them though, eavesdropping wasn’t a crime he could get kicked out for. 

Evie cleared her throat gently and he just knew she was nervously picking at her skirt's hemline. “Maleficent thought she was in love with Stephan, but they were young and she didn’t know anyone else that way. One night when they were teenagers, he showed up and asked to stay the night. He kissed her and she was happy, so she let him sleep next to her. Only to wake up the next morning to find her wings burned off with iron and her dress around her hips to show the evidence of her rape. On his way out, Stephan must have found the newly formed egg in the incubation alcove, and stole it because he didn’t know what it was. That was why Maleficent targeted Aurora. One daughter for another.” 

He heard Carlos shift next to him to take over the end of the story. “The egg was a well guarded secret that he hid away in his own chambers in the coldest place he could find. It almost killed Mal. The only reason she survived was the fire that almost destroyed the castle breathing enough life into her for it to start growing. Aurora found it when she was taking over with Philip, giving it to Maleficent as a peace offering. Stephen’s anger over losing it caused another fight between his men and Maleficent, Aurora knocked out by a wind gust created by Maleficent’s wings when she tried to stop it. With her unconcious, Maleficent was sent to the isle on Stephen’s order with Mal, where the incubation could finally start. With all of the damage, Maleficent needed insurance that the egg would survive so she enlisted Hades who used his Ember to keep the egg alive.” 

“That’s why Mal has purple hair.” Jay finished. “She was going to tell you everything after coronation, she didn’t want any more secrets, and that’s the only reason why we’re telling you this. The only people alive who know that story are in this room, and Aurora. Let’s keep it that way.” 


	20. Awakening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, but it's more of an epilogue. I hope you liked the story, I'll be posting the sequel once I've finished some of my other works! 
> 
> Thank you to manticoregurl071134 for your comments, they might have been short but it's always nice to see that someone enjoyed the read! 
> 
> Thank you to Rowaelinforever for the comments you left as well, you made me laugh a few times with your excitement. 
> 
> Thank you to BriEva for your feedback, it helps when readers like you point out the good parts, and always what needs improving. 
> 
> Thank you to Krispydefendorpolice, Rainyface6, thehelldoievenputhere, Ester, and Raven Smoak for your comments as well.

Mal woke up to the sound of light snores surrounding her from both sides, the feeling of hot iron burning in her right leg, and the knowledge that her mother was defeated. Within a few seconds of being fully conscious, she grabbed the nearest bowl looking thing and released all of the bile that had been sitting in her stomach, waking the sources of the snores she’d been hearing. 

Someone started pulling as much of her hair back as possible with quick, practiced movements, so she knew one of them must have been Evie. The other was almost certainly Ben as soft fabric that neither of her boys could afford brushed against her exposed arms, and her thoughts were confirmed by an actual bucket being placed in her hands. “Welcome back to the living, we thought we were going to have to make Fairy Godmother a new wand just to wake you.” 

“A new wand?” She didn’t have much time to think about that because her head was back in the bucket dry heaving, but she was sure that even if it wasn’t she wouldn’t have been able to think through the pain. “Ugh...can I have some water?” 

A cool glass was pressed to her lips once she was sitting upright again, though her eyes refused to open. “When you were in battle with your mother, the wand was lost. Possibly even destroyed. No one could find it in the rubble, no one had picked it up. It doesn’t exist anymore.” 

“Well that’s one way to make sure no new kids try to steal it,” she muttered as she reached out to find Evie’s hands, relaxing only once their fingers intertwined. “I must have been out for hours if they gave up searching. What was I asleep for? A day or two? Jay and Carlos aren’t here so it couldn’t have been that long.” When Mal got no response, she felt her heart grow lighter and her fingers pinch with magic. “They looked okay after the fight so it's not like they’re in the hospital or anything, right?” 

Her eyes finally pried themselves open only to be met with two pairs of worried eyes. “The boys are fine, Mal,” Ben assured her, but he glanced at Evie before continuing. “They had something they needed to do and they didn’t think you’d be awake yet, so they didn’t stay behind…” He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, pulling on the ends slightly before letting it drop into his lap. “You’ve been out for almost a week, Mal. The castle is fully cleared and the debri has been sorted through, repairs are starting tomorrow and…Jay and Carlos went to pick up the next round of VK’s.” 

“Perfect timing, right?” Evie laughed with no emotion as tears welled up in her eyes, ones that would never fall for fear of ruining her makeup. Mal just squeezed her hand harder and relaxed slightly when she got the same in return. “Do you want me to kick out our new king so you can get ready?” 

Before Ben could question them, Mal nodded. “I know who’s most likely coming and they need to see my face, especially if they’ve heard I was in a coma.” She shooed Ben out with a wave of her hand, which he promptly grabbed and bestowed a kiss upon. She rolled her eyes, but it was nice to know he was still willing to touch her after what he saw her turn into. “Do you still have some of our original stuff?” 

Evie rolled her eyes at the question. She tended to recycle their clothes into new outfits, but there were a few that she didn’t touch. “Of course I do. Do you need help taking a shower, or do you think you can manage?” 

“Help me to the bathroom and I’ll be fine from there, I just need to stand.” Mal groaned as Evie pulled her up, muscles straining from being moved after so long in one position and her spine cracked a few times as it readjusted. “Thank you for your help, E.” There was more behind those words than either girl would let themselves admit. Mal went to shower and when she was done, dawned the outfit she used to wear to meetings with the other gang leaders. It made her feel settled in her own body as if she was reattaching an arm instead of just wearing clothes. 

Mal crossed her arms as Evie looked bored, the two of them standing in the walkway up to the school like Ben and Audrey had done so long ago for their arrival. When the limo pulled up and the boys got out, they didn’t even flinch in surprise at her appearance. They only helped Dizzy and Cecelia into the light, and stood guard as Gil bounced to his feet behind them. The one they were truly worried about was Uma, her turquoise braids trailing behind her as she looked around with an unimpressed expression. “I heard you were in a coma.” 

“I heard you had finally gotten rid of the shrimpy smell,” she snapped right back as if she could fight right there and then, when the truth was it was taking all of her willpower just to keep from passing out again. She accepted the hugs the two young girls offered her without hesitation, even though she was expecting a different Facillier. “I assume Freddie stayed to help maintain control, and your  _ pretty boy _ is right now arguing with his older sister about how she’s running your crew in your absence.” Though there was no change in any of their faces, she knew she was right from the flick in Uma’s fingers like she was going to grab a sword. “ I’m not here for threats, I’m here to welcome you to Auradon, and let you know that we hope to make your visit as comfortable as possible. If you want it to be permanent, remember where you are.”  _ My turf. _ For all the danger her smile held, she might as well have kept her dragon teeth. 


End file.
